Supreme Court of Alabama, 1997

Whataburger, Inc. v. Rockwell

Whataburger, Inc. v. Rockwell
Supreme Court of Alabama · Decided November 14, 1997 · Kennedy, Almon, Shores, Cook, Butts, Hooper, Maddox, See
706 So. 2d 1230; 1997 Ala. LEXIS 433; 1997 WL 707071 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Whataburger, Inc. v. Rockwell

Opinion of the Court

KENNEDY, Justice.

WRIT DENIED. NO OPINION.

ALMON, SHORES, COOK, and BUTTS, JJ., concur. HOOPER, C.J., and MADDOX and SEE, JJ., dissent.

Dissenting Opinion

MADDOX, Justice

(dissenting).

Judge Crawley, in his dissenting opinion, correctly states Alabama law relating to the liability of a premises owner for the criminal acts of a third party. Whataburger, Inc. v. Rockwell, 706 So.2d 1220, 1225 (Ala.Civ.App. 1997) (Crawley, J., dissenting). Based on the facts stated in the Court of Civil Appeals’ opinion and the facts set out in the petitioner’s motion to add and correct facts, as permitted by Rule 39(k), Ala. R.App. P., I do not find any circumstances or relationships in this case that would make a premises owner liable. See the discussion of the “special relationship” and “special circumstances” exceptions in Finley v. Patterson, 705 So.2d 826 (Ala. 1997). I dissent.

SEE, J., concurs.

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