Kukesh v. Mutrie

Plaintiffs were four police officers who served on a drug task force who received reports that defendant’s 29-year-old son was engaged in illegal drug activity at a property in Greenland where he lived. The property was owned by the Beverly P. Mutrie Revocable Trust, of which defendant was trustee. During the execution of a search warrant at the Greenland property, defendant’s son shot and injured the plaintiffs. He then took his own life. Plaintiffs sued defendant, individually and in her capacity as trustee to recover for their injuries, alleging that she was responsible for their injuries because, “with the knowledge, information and belief” that her son was engaged in criminal activity, she “did recklessly and wantonly allow . . . criminal activity and conduct to take place at the subject property and otherwise directly and indirectly and wantonly and recklessly supported and facilitated [her son’s] criminal activity at the subject property.” The defendant filed a motion to dismiss, asserting that the plaintiffs’ claim is barred by the Firefighter’s Rule. The trial court explained that the allegations that defendant had provided her son with housing, cars, and financial assistance, and also paid his legal defense costs were insufficient to support a finding of reckless or wanton conduct because that assistance did not “enable [her son] to shoot the police,” nor did it “contribute to his decision to do so.” Therefore, the trial court concluded, the defendant could not “reasonably be considered to have created or contributed to an unjustifiable risk of harm to others,” and that no exception to the Firefighter Rule applied. Plaintiffs appealed, but finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Kukesh v. Mutrie" on Justia Law