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The Medical Center Hospital Authorityv.Alan Keith Cavender

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A14A1788
DecidedMarch 24, 2015
Reporter331 Ga. App. 469; 771 S.E.2d 153
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia, Second Division; Presiding Judge Andrews and Judges McFadden and Ray; Presiding Judge Andrews authored the opinion
Tags
CivilTort LawNegligencePremises LiabilityCausationWrongful DeathPremises SecuritySummary Judgment
Case Summary

Alan Keith Cavender sued the Medical Center Hospital Authority for personal injuries after Charles Johnston assaulted him during a 2008 shooting rampage at Doctors Hospital. The superior court denied the Authority’s motion for summary judgment, and the Court of Appeals considered Cavender’s appeal together with six related appeals arising from the same attack. The court held that Johnston’s criminal acts were not reasonably foreseeable because the plaintiffs had not shown substantially similar prior incidents that would have put the Authority on notice. Evidence of several armed robberies at a neighboring campus more than five years earlier did not establish foreseeability of Johnston’s targeted shooting and assault. The court therefore reversed the denial of summary judgment in Cavender’s case and remanded with direction; it did not reach the Authority’s alternative argument about Cavender’s knowledge of Johnston’s threat. Judge McFadden concurred specially, objecting to a footnote’s discussion of imputing knowledge between related entities and to including an unnecessary allegation that Cavender fabricated his account of being assaulted.

Opinion

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