Appeals

Arizona Court of Appeals Dismisses Dangerous Conditions Claim 

Marc Shrake, Zach Moura and Christian Nagy were handed a win for the City of Page, Arizona following an appeal from a successful motion for summary judgment. A tourist taking photographs in a parking lot…

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Marc Shrake, Zach Moura and Christian Nagy were handed a win for the City of Page, Arizona following an appeal from a successful motion for summary judgment. A tourist taking photographs in a parking lot owned by the City of Page was struck and killed by a tour bus. After being sued by the tourist’s family, the bus owner filed a cross-complaint against the City on the theory that it had failed to maintain the parking lot it set up for tourists to visit Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River.

The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in the City’s favor, agreeing with our statutory interpretation of “premises” and holding that the bus owner had failed to introduce any admissible evidence of gross negligence by the City (which would have overcome the statutory qualified immunity). In so doing, the Court also shot down appellants’ argument that objections not ruled on at the summary judgement stage were waived, expressly finding that we had preserved the City’s objections and sustaining a critical hearsay objection against the bus owner. The City was awarded its costs on appeal.

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