U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1977

Ramon Ramirez v. United States Department of Interior-Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · Decided March 2, 1977 · Ainsworth, Clark, Per Curiam, Roney

546 F.2d 645 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

L. Taylor Zimmerman, El Paso, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant., John A. Grambling, Harold L. Sims, El Paso, Tex., for El Paso Water Imp.

Cases that cite this one

2 later published cases cite this decision.

Ramirez v. United States Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation (5th Cir. 1977)
Aretz v. United States (United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia 1977)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

This is an appeal from a judgment entered for defendant at the close of plaintiff’s evidence in a nonjury trial. The wrongful death action was brought by the parents of a six-year-old child who drowned in the Franklin Canal, owned and maintained by the United States Government.

Based on the allegations in this case, we have serious doubt as to whether the Government is immune from the allegations of negligence in this suit under the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2680(a), see Dalehite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15, 73 S.Ct. 956, 97 L.Ed. 1427 (1953), as held by the district court. We do not, however, have to resolve this issue. The additional findings and conclusions of the court that there was no actionable negligence on the part of defendants are not clearly erroneous and properly apply Texas law, which controls this case. Cf. Avina v. United States, 115 F.Supp. 579 (W.D.Tex. 1953).

AFFIRMED.

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