Lydia v. Horton10/30/2000
1963). When a fact is well pleaded, any inferences of law or conclusions of fact that may properly arise therefrom are to be regarded as embraced in the averment. Crowe, supra; Douglass ex rel. Louthian, supra.
On review of the motion, the court may not consider matters outside the pleadings. Firemen's Ins. Co. v. Cincinnati Ins. Co., 302 S.C. 234, 394 S.E.2d 855 (Ct. App. 1990). Our courts have held that pleadings in a case should be construed liberally so that substantial justice is done between the parties. Russell v. City of Columbia, 305 S.C. 86, 406 S.E.2d 338 (1991); Manning v. Dial, 271 S.C. 79, 245 S.E.2d 120 (1978). A judgment on the pleadings is considered to be a drastic procedure. Russell, supra; United States Casualty Co. v. Hiers, 233 S.C. 333, 104 S.E.2d 561 (1958).
LAW/ANALYSIS
I. Negligent Entrustment in South Carolina
South Carolina has recognized a cause of action for negligent entrustment when a third party is injured by a vehicle entrusted by its owner to an intoxicated individual. See McAllister v. Graham, 287 S.C. 455, 339 S.E.2d 154 (Ct. App. 1986). The elements of negligent entrustment are:
(1) Knowledge of or knowledge imputable to the owner that the driver was either addicted to intoxicants or had the habit of drinking, (2) that (sic) the owner knew or had imputable knowledge that the driver was likely to drive while intoxicated, and (3) under these circumstances, the entrustment of a vehicle by the owner to such a driver. Jackson v. Price, 288 S.C. 377, 382, 342 S.E.2d 628, 631 (Ct. App. 1986).
In American Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Passmore, 275 S.C. 618, 274 S.E.2d 416 (1981), our Supreme Court stated:
The theory of negligent entrustment provides: "the owner or one in control of the vehicle and responsible for its use who is negligent in entrusting it to another can be held liable for such negligent entrustment." 19 A.L.R.3d 1175, 1192, cited in Bahm v. Dormanen, 543 P.2d 379, 381 (Montana 1975). American Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 275 S.C. at 621, 274 S.E.2d at 418.
South Carolina has acknowledged that giving control of property, such as an air rifle, can be negligent. While not specifically labeling this "negligent entrustment," the same rationale is utilized in finding liability. In Howell v. Hairston, 261 S.C. 292, 199 S.E.2d 766 (1973), the Court held:
Whether one is negligent or prudent depends in large measure on all of the surrounding circumstances, and failure to use due care, amounting to negligence, may be proved by direct as well as by circumstantial evidence. In order to hold the parents . . . liable, evidence must be submitted tending to prove that a prudent parent would not have entrusted [his/her child] with an air rifle under the same or similar circumstances. A parent might be justified in entrusting an air rifle to a particular child while residing in a thinly populated rural area; the same parent might not be justified in entrusting an air rifle to the same child in a thickly populated area where children are accustomed to play.
From the evidence to which reference has been made above, an inference can reasonably be drawn that the [parents] failed to act as reasonably prudent parents under the circumstances. Howell, 261 S.C. at 298-99, 199 S.E.2d at 769 (emphasis added).
This Court, in Dennis by Evans v. Timmons, 313 S.C. 338, 437 S.E.2d 138 (Ct. App. 1993), found a screwdriver was "not an instrument of dangerous propensities and potentialities." Id. at 341, 437 S.E.2d at 140. The Court observed: "Furthermore, unlike the air rifle in Howell, the [parents] did not entrust the screwdriver, negligently or otherwise, to a person who,
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 South Carolina DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|