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Keywords

defendantnegligencehearingsummary judgmentwillduty of carecommon law

willduty of care

Related Cases

Estate of Cilley v. Lane, 985 A.2d 481, 2009 ME 133

Facts

Jennifer Lane and Joshua Cilley had a tumultuous romantic relationship that ended shortly before the incident. On January 31, 2005, after Lane had been drinking, Cilley entered her trailer without permission, despite her requests for him to leave. A confrontation ensued, during which Cilley obtained a rifle and accidentally shot himself. Lane did not investigate the situation immediately after hearing the shot and left to inform her friends, who later called for help. Cilley died from his injuries, which could have been treated had he received assistance sooner.

In 2003, Jennifer Lane and Joshua Cilley began a romantic relationship that continued over the next year and one-half. Although the two had discussed marriage, they had also broken up and reunited several times during those months. On January 30, 2005, Lane told Cilley that they needed to take some time off from their relationship, but that they would still be friends. During the late afternoon of the next day, January 31, 2005, Lane was drinking beer and eating pizza with two friends who lived near her at a trailer park in Washington County. In the early evening, after drinking four or five beers, Lane left her friend's trailer and walked a short distance to her own trailer to call her daughter.

Issue

Did Jennifer Lane owe Joshua Cilley a duty of care, and was there a common law duty to seek emergency assistance?

The issue before us is whether Lane owed Cilley a duty of care.

Rule

A landowner's duty to a trespasser is limited to refraining from wanton, willful, or reckless behavior, and there is no general duty to rescue or assist unless a special relationship exists.

Absent a special relationship, a person owes no duty to rescue a person notwithstanding how dire the imperiled person's circumstances and irrespective of how slight an effort would be required to accomplish the rescue.

Analysis

The court determined that Cilley was a trespasser because he entered Lane's home without permission and refused to leave when asked. As a trespasser, Lane's only obligation was to avoid willful or reckless harm, which she did not commit. The court also rejected the Estate's argument for a new common law duty to seek emergency assistance, stating that such a duty does not exist without a special relationship or if the defendant created the danger.

Because Cilley was a trespasser at the time of the incident, Lane's only duty to him was to refrain from wanton, willful, or reckless behavior. Lane's failure to contact emergency assistance for Cilley immediately after she heard the pop does not rise to the level of wanton, willful, or reckless behavior because Lane did not create the danger to Cilley, nor commit any act that led to his initial injury.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the summary judgment in favor of Lane, concluding that she did not breach any duty owed to Cilley as a trespasser and that no new duty to assist was recognized.

The entry is: Judgment affirmed.

Who won?

Jennifer Lane prevailed in the case because the court found that she did not owe a duty of care to Cilley, who was classified as a trespasser, and thus her actions did not constitute negligence.

Jennifer Lane prevailed in the case because the court found that Cilley was a trespasser and that Lane did not breach any duty she owed to him.

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