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Holcomb v. Walden11/19/2004
Darlene and Terry Holcomb were riding a motorcycle when a car driven by Franklin Jones swerved in front of them. Terry Holcomb was forced to brake and swerve to avoid hitting Jones. Holcomb lost control of the motorcycle and he was killed and Darlene Holcomb was seriously injured as a result. Darlene Holcomb sued Jones and Kathy Harper, the owner of the car. Holcomb also sued Sheriff Neal Walden and Deputy Sheriff Scotty Scarborough. In an earlier encounter with Jones, Scarborough had been informed that Jones did not have a valid driver's license. Holcomb claims the accident would not have occurred if Scarborough had arrested Jones instead of allowing him to drive away in the car.
The trial court granted summary judgment to Walden and Scarborough, holding that they were immune from suit in their official capacities based on sovereign immunity, and immune from suit in their individual capacities based on official immunity. But, because we conclude that under the "public duty doctrine," Deputy Scarborough violated no duty for which he could be held liable in tort for Holcomb's claims, we need not reach the issue of immunity. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's grant of summary judgment under the right for any reason rule.
This case arose when Deputy Scarborough responded to a 911 call concerning a fight by the side of the highway. When he arrived, he found Robin and Bennie Jones sitting on the shoulder of the road. Bennie Jones appeared to be highly intoxicated and while Scarborough was talking to him, started to bleed from the nose. Bennie Jones said he had cirrhosis of the liver so Scarborough called for medical help. Bennie Jones told Scarborough that he and Robin had been riding in a car with Franklin Jones, who had put them out because they were arguing. Shortly after, Franklin Jones and Kathy Harper drove up and Franklin Jones got out of the car and walked over to talk to Scarborough. Jones said that he had dropped Bennie and Robin Jones by the side of the road after he became tired of listening to them argue. Scarborough said that Franklin Jones did not appear to be intoxicated.
At some point, another deputy drove up and the ambulance came in response to the call for help for Bennie Jones. Scarborough also called his dispatcher and asked for background checks on all four people. The dispatcher informed Scarborough that approximately seven years previously, Franklin Jones had been declared an habitual violator. Scarborough questioned Jones and he said that his license had been "cleared up" and produced a traffic citation from the Georgia State Patrol in lieu of his license. Jones said that the trooper who gave him the citation told him that the Georgia Crime Information Center got backed up from time to time and its information was not always accurate and he should be able to drive on the citation. Scarborough said he believed Jones because this sounded like something that a trooper would in fact have told him. Scarborough asked Jones whether he had been drinking and Jones told him he had one beer earlier that morning.
*2 Scarborough also went over to look in the car Jones had been driving. He saw two partially burned marijuana cigarettes in the back ashtray. Scarborough asked Kathy Harper, the car's owner, for permission to search the car. She consented and Scarborough found two empty beer cans, a half empty six pack of beer and a half empty 12-pack of beer in the rear of the car. The two women consented to a search of their purses and both contained marijuana. Scarborough arrested Harper and Robin Jones for possession of marijuana.
Jones drove away in the car and a short time later caused the accident to Darlene and Terry Holcomb. Jones left the scene of the accident but was arrested shortly after. He was charged w
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