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Keywords

tortnegligenceappealtrial
plaintiffdefendantnegligencetrial

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Grover v. Stechel, 132 N.M. 140, 45 P.3d 80, 2002 -NMCA- 049

Facts

Joseph Grover was stabbed by David Stechel, the adult son of Barbara Stechel, who was financially supported by his mother at the time of the incident. Grover filed a complaint against Barbara, alleging negligence, negligence per se, and prima facie tort, claiming that her support created a duty to control her son and foresee his violent behavior. The trial court dismissed the case, stating that Barbara's financial support did not establish a recognized special relationship that would impose a legal duty to control her adult son. Grover appealed the dismissal.

Plaintiff, Joseph Grover, was stabbed by David Stechel (David), the adult son of Defendant, Barbara Stechel. David was twenty-one years old and receiving significant financial support from Defendant at the time of the incident.

Issue

Did Barbara Stechel have a legal duty to control her adult son, David, and foresee his violent behavior towards Joseph Grover?

Did Barbara Stechel have a legal duty to control her adult son, David, and foresee his violent behavior towards Joseph Grover?

Rule

An individual generally has no duty to protect another from harm unless a special relationship exists that gives rise to such a duty. Special relationships recognized by law include those involving common carriers, innkeepers, possessors of land, or those who take custody of another, depriving them of normal protection opportunities. To impose a duty, the relationship must include the right or ability to control the conduct of the other party.

Analysis

In this case, the court found that Barbara's financial support of David did not equate to a special relationship that would impose a duty to control his actions. The court noted that Barbara lived across the country from David at the time of the stabbing and had no legal right to control his behavior. The financial support provided by Barbara did not give her the ability to control David's actions, and thus, the court concluded that there was no foreseeability of the violent act.

Mother's payment of her adult son's living expenses at the time of son's assault on victim did not fit into any recognized special relationship so as to impose legal duty on mother to control her adult son, who was using drugs which caused him to become violent, for purposes of victim's negligence claim against mother; mother lived across the country from son at the time of the assault, and while mother's financial support might have governed where son lived and whether he was gainfully employed, it was too much of a leap to conclude that by controlling son's finances mother controlled his conduct.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of Grover's complaint, concluding that Barbara Stechel had no legal duty to control her adult son or protect Grover from his actions.

We affirm the trial court's dismissal of Plaintiff's complaint.

Who won?

Barbara Stechel prevailed in this case as the court upheld the dismissal of Grover's claims. The court reasoned that there was no recognized special relationship between Barbara and David that would impose a duty on her to control his behavior. The court emphasized that Barbara's financial support did not equate to control over David's actions, and the stabbing incident was not foreseeable given the circumstances.

Defendant lived across the country from David at the time of the assault. Plaintiff argues that Defendant retained control over David based on Defendant's financial support of David. We are not persuaded that absent this support, David would not have engaged in the same behavior.

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