Romine v. Village of Irving

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District · 2003 · Torts

TortsDutyNegligencePolice liabilityForeseeabilitydutyforeseeabilitysummary judgment

Facts

At an Irving festival, police officers handcuffed and then released John Osborne after a disturbance, and they told John and his wife Dixie to leave. The officers did not tell either of them to get into a vehicle, did not see them approach a vehicle, and saw them walking away from the beer tent area; one officer suggested that they not drive. John and Dixie then walked several blocks to their van parked near a tavern, and Dixie drove away and collided with plaintiffs' vehicle. Plaintiffs claimed the village was liable because the officers directed Dixie to leave when she was intoxicated.

Issue

Did the Village of Irving owe plaintiffs a legal duty where police officers told an intoxicated woman to leave festival grounds, but did not instruct her to drive and did not observe her entering or approaching a vehicle, and she later drove drunk and injured plaintiffs? If no duty existed, summary judgment for the village was proper regardless of plaintiffs' willful-and-wanton theory.

Rule

In negligence, liability requires breach of a legal duty. Duty turns in part on whether the harm was objectively reasonably foreseeable from what was apparent to the defendant at the time, not on hindsight; courts also consider the magnitude of the risk, the burden of guarding against it, and the consequences of imposing that burden. The Tort Immunity Act does not create new duties, and immunity is considered only after a duty is found.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

During a street fair in Peoria, Officers Lena Ortiz and Mark Bower broke up a shouting match between Evan Pike and his visibly intoxicated sister, Nora Pike. The officers told both to leave the fairgrounds, watched them walk down a side street, did not see either approach a car, and did not tell either to drive. Twenty minutes later, Nora reached a pickup parked several blocks away, drove while intoxicated, and struck Quinn Dorsey.

If Quinn sues the city for negligence, which argument best reflects the likely result under the majority rule?

Explanation. The majority rule asks first whether a legal duty exists. Duty depends in part on objective reasonable foreseeability judged from what was apparent at the time, not hindsight. Where officers merely tell an intoxicated person to leave, do not direct driving, and do not observe the person driving or approaching a vehicle, a later drunk-driving crash after the person reaches a distant vehicle is a remote possibility rather than an objectively reasonable expectation. Immunity is considered only after duty is found.