Howard L. JONES, individually and as administrator of the Estate of Mark Howard Jones, deceased
v.
BP OIL COMPANY, INC.
Supreme Court of Alabama.
*436 John A. Taber, Donald E. Fazekas and Maston E. Martin, Jr. of Taber, Dansby, Fazekas & Martin, and Kenneth L. Mendelsohn of Jemison & Mendelsohn, Montgomery, for appellant.
C. Peter Bolvig of McDaniel, Hall, Conerly & Lusk, P.C., Birmingham, for appellee.
PER CURIAM.
The plaintiff, Howard Jones, appeals from a summary judgment in favor of the defendant BP Oil, Inc., in his action seeking damages based on the personal injury and resulting death of his son, Mark Jones. We affirm.
In reviewing a summary judgment, we use the same standard as the trial court in determining whethеr there are any genuine issues of material fact and whether the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Bussey v. John Deere Co.,
Mark Jones was killed on June 12, 1990, at approximately 11:30 p.m., when his automobile was struck by another vehicle driven by Blake Dettwiler. Michael Kelly was a passenger in Dettwiler's car. Bоth Dettwiler and Kelly were 17 years old on the date of the accident.
In the early evening of June 12, Dettwiler and Kelly had driven to the Gulf Gas Mart convenience store operated by BP Oil on Vaughn Road in Montgomery, Alabama. Dettwiler parked his car in a position where he and Kelly could not be observed by the clerk inside the store. Kelly entered the store with money supplied by Dettwiler for the purpose of purchаsing beer for Dettwiler and himself. The Gulf Gas Mart had illegally sold beer to Kelly several times before and had a reputation of selling beer to minors. Kelly had a fake identification card in his possession at the time of the purchase, but the clerk sold him three refrigerated six-packs of beer without asking to see identification to verify that Kelly was of legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages. Later that evening Kelly reimbursed Dettwiler for his portion of the purchase price.
Dettwiler and Kelly consumed the beer between approximately 7:00 p.m. and the time of the accident. At approximately 11:30 p.m., Dettwiler was driving his car on Vaughn Road at a high rate of speed; it collided with the car driven by Mark Jones. Dettwiler's blood alcohol level, measured after the accident, was 0.136 percent.
Howard Jonеs filed this action individually and as representative of the estate of Mark Jones, naming Dettwiler, Kelly, and BP Oil as defendants; he stated claims against BP Oil under Alabama's "Dram Shop Act," Ala. Code 1975, § 6-5-71, and under negligence and conspiracy theories. Jones reached a settlement with Dettwiler. On February 11, 1992, the court entered a summary judgment in favor of BP Oil on Jones's negligence claim, and on February 4, 1993, it entered a summary judgment in favor of BP Oil on Jones's remaining claims. On February 18, 1993, the court made the summary judgments final pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R.Civ.P.. Jones's claims against Kelly are still pending.
Jones contends that the trial court erred by basing its judgment in favor of BP Oil on the fact that there was no illegal sale of alcohol by Gulf Gas Mart to the minor driver, Dettwiler, but rather only to the minor passenger, Kelly. Thus, the primary issue on this appeal is whether a retailer of alcoholic beverages may be held liable when it illegally sells alcohol to one minor, who shares it with another minor, who then becomes intoxicated and injures a third party.
I. The Dram Shop Act
Jones asserted a claim against BP Oil pursuant to § 6-5-71, Alabama's Dram Shop Act. That section provides in relevant part:
"(a) Every wife, child, parent or other person who shall be injured in person, property, or means of support by any intoxicated person or in cоnsequence of the intoxication of any person shall have a right of action against any person who shall, by selling, giving, or otherwise disposing of to another, contrary to the provisions of law, any liquors or beverages, cause the intoxication of such person for all damages actually sustained, as well as exemplary damages."
(Emphasis added.)
Jones contends that Gulf Gas Mart's sale of beer to the minor Kelly, in violation of Ala.Code 1975, § 28-3A-25(a)(3), and which was purchased with Dettwiler's funds, was "otherwise disposing of" the beer to the minor Dettwiler. Thus, argues Jones, there was a sale or disposition of alcoholic beverages to Dettwiler by BP Oil, contrary to the provisions of law, and a cause of action against BP Oil should lie under § 6-5-71. Jones contends that it was clearly foreseeable that the beer purchased by the minor Kelly was either to be consumed by Kelly while he drove an automobile or to be shared with another minоr who was driving, because, he argues, if the driver of the car had been an adult, he would have purchased the beer himself.
In response to this claim, the trial court ruled that our opinion in Espey v. Convenience *438 Marketers, Inc.,
"Convenience sold the beer to Jimmy, not Connie; that is undisputed. The sale to Jimmy was contrary tо the provisions of law, but the claim involved in this appeal involves the alleged disposition of beer to Connie. Although it may be argued with some merit that Convenience `otherwise dispos[ed]' of the beer to connie, we will not hold that Convenience's sale of the beer to Jimmy, who then gave it to Connie, was a disposition of the beer to Connie by Convenience that was `contrary to the provisions of law.'"
The facts of this case are analogous to Espey in that there was no direct sale of alcoholic beverages to the minor driver who became intoxicated and caused the accident resulting in the death of Mark Jones. We explained in Espey that a direct, rather than an indirect, sale of alcoholic beverages to the person causing the injury is required in order to create a claim under § 6-5-71. Id. Further, we ruled that the "totality of the circumstances" test availаble under the Civil Damages Act, Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-70, is inapplicable in actions based on the Dram Shop Act. Id. at 1233, n. 4. See Moreland v. Jitney Jungle, Inc.,
We find no significance in the fact that Dettwiler supplied all or a portion of the funds used by Kelly to purchase the beer. The sale by the BP Oil employee was to Kelly, not Dettwiler, regardless of the origin of the money used for the purchase. Thus, the trial court properly entered the summary judgment in favor of BP Oil as to Jones's claim under § 6-5-71.
II. Negligence
Jones contends that if a statutory remedy under § 6-5-71 is unavailable under the facts of this case, then the common law remedy of a negligence action against BP Oil must be available. Jones argues that given the fact that an innocent third party was killed as a result of BP Oil's illegal sale of alcohol to a minor, a remedy against BP Oil must exist. We disagree.
For over a century, Alabama law has refused to recognize an action based on negligence in the distribution of alcohоl. In King v. Henkie,
In Parker, we plainly stated: "Plaintiff urges us to adopt a common law cause of action that would impose liability for the distribution of alcoholic beverages to minors. We decline to do so. It has been a principle of long standing in Alabama that one cannot recover for negligence in the dispensing of alcohol."
*439 III. Conspiracy
Jones also contends that a civil conspiracy existed between BP Oil, Kelly, and Dettwiler to commit the unlawful act of selling alcoholic beverages to a minor in violation of Ala.Code 1975, § 28-3A-25(3), and that the conspiracy resulted in the death of Mark Jones. Jones contends that BP Oil's Gulf Gas Mart had a custom and practice of selling alcohol to minors and that Kelly and Dettwiler went to the Gulf Gas Mart because of that fact. Jones argues that Kelly and Dettwiler conspired to purchase alcohol in violation of § 28-3A-25(a)(3) and that the illegal sale by Gulf Gas Mart to Kelly was an agreement incorporating BP Oil into the conspiracy.
We find this argument unconvincing. As the trial court correctly noted, liability for civil conspiracy rests upon the existence of an underlying wrong and if the underlying wrong provides no cause of action, then neither does the conspiracy. Allied Supply Co. v. Brown,
IV. Conclusion
Because there was no genuine issue of material fact and BP Oil was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law, BP Oil's summary judgment is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
MADDOX, ALMON, SHORES, STEAGALL and COOK, JJ., concur.
HOUSTON, J., concurs specially.
HORNSBY, C.J., and INGRAM, J., dissent.
HOUSTON, Justice (concurring specially).
I write to address the quote from Parker v. Miller Brewing Co.,
HORNSBY, Chief Justice (dissenting).
I must respectfully dissent. Although this Court has not previously recognized an ordinary common law cause of action for the negligent distribution of alcoholic beverages, I believe an action based on the doctrine of negligence per se for a statutory violation is available to Jones under Alabama law. In Parker v. Miller Brewing Co.,
"At the turn of the century, our society was not confronted with the tremendous number and variety of alcoholic beverages that exist today. Wine coolers and beer packaged in carry-out cartons were not *440 available on every corner and in the neighborhood grocery. Hundreds of millions of dollars were not being spent to promotе dozens of brands of beer and wine. `Happy hours' featuring half-price beer were not commonplace. Large, powerful automobiles, operated by minors, were not commonplace."
The majority in Parker took comfort in the fact that most jurisdictions follow the rule that "no common law action exists in favor of an intoxicated person against one who sells the alcohol."
I. Ala.Code 1975, § 28-3A-25(a)(3)
The historical rule that no liability exists for the negligent distribution of alcohol is founded on the assumption that the person receiving the alcohol is "strong and able-bodied." See Manthei v. Heimerdinger,
"For any licensee or the [Alabama Alcohol Beverage Control Board] either directly or by the servants, agents or employees of the same, or for any servant, agent, or employee of the same, to sell, deliver, furnish or give away alcoholic beverаges to any minor, or to permit any minor to drink or consume any alcoholic beverages on licensee's premises."
Yet § 28-3A-25(a)(3) has a broader purpose than simply to impose criminal liability. In Funari v. City of Decatur,
II. Negligence Per Se
The doctrine of statutory negligence or negligence per se has been long established under Alabama law. See Watts v. Montgomery *441 Traction Co.,
III. Proximate Causation
Several jurisdictions that do not recognize a cause of action based on the negligent distribution of alcohol hold that, as a matter of law, the consumption of the alcohol is an intervening or superseding cause that breaks the chain of causation between the negligent distribution and thе resulting injury. See Milligan v. County Line Liquor, Inc.,
The general rule of proximate causation in Alabama is that a negligent act or omission is the proximate cause of an injury if the injury is "a natural and probable consequence of the negligent act or omission which an ordinarily prudent person ought reasonably to foresee would result in injury." Vines v. Plantation Motor Lodge,
Kelly is significant in that in that case this Court found substantial evidence of proximate causation under facts very similar to those of this case. In Kelly, the passengers of one automobile were injured when their vehicle was struck by a second automobile driven by a minor who had become disoriented after using an inhalant known as Ethyl Gaz, which was marketed as an air freshener.
Similarly, in this case, it was reasonably foreseeable that following the sale of three refrigerated six-packs of beer to the minor Kelly in violation of § 28-3A-25(a)(3), Kelly would share the beer with a second minor, that the second minor would become intoxicated, and that as a result of the intoxication the second minor would injure a third party. Other courts have recognized the foreseeability of resulting injury in similar circumstances. See Morris, supra; Kvanli v. Village of Watson,
IV. Conclusion
I stated in my dissent in Parker: "As a policy-making Court, we should institute a policy to discourage the illegal sale of alcoholic beverages to minors. Where there is a purchase of alcoholic beverages, the seller has a duty to ascertain that the purchaser is not a minor." Parker,
To apply the doctrine of negligence per se to the sale of alcohol to minors would nоt impose strict liability on sellers of alcohol and would not conflict with prior decisions of this Court. In Espey v. Convenience Marketers, Inc.,
In summary, I believe that the facts allеged by Jones's complaint would support a cause of action against BP Oil under the doctrine of negligence per se for the sale of alcohol in violation of statute. Further, I believe this cause of action should be recognized under Alabama law. Finally, because I believe that Jones has put forth substantial evidence of proximate causation, I would reverse the judgment of the trial court in favor of BP Oil and remand this cause for further proceedings.
NOTES
Notes
[1] Morris v. Farley Enterprises, Inc.,
