BOISE, Idaho (Legal Newsline) – An Idaho bar isn’t liable for the stabbing of one of its customers as, no matter how hard plaintiffs lawyers argued against it, the state’s Dram Shop Act applied.
The Idaho Supreme Court issued its ruling July 2 that lawyers for Steven and Audra Fell failed to obey the requirement of the Dram Shop Act to provide notice of their lawsuit within 180 days of the incident.
Though the woman who stabbed Steven Fell was drunk, lawyers for Fell tried to save their case by ruling it wasn’t a dram shop cause of action.
“Even if Fells presented no evidence of intoxication in their case-in-chief at trial, Fat Smitty’s certainly would have been entitled to do so in their defense,” Justice Gregory Moeller wrote.
“(W)hile it is possible that a jury could conclude that intoxication was not the proximate cause of the Fells’ injuries, no reasonable view of the facts could sustain a verdict that intoxication was not a proximate cause.”
Moeller went on to say alcohol’s role in the stabbing was “likely a large one.”
Fell was stabbed outside of the First Street Saloon, which is owned by Fat Smitty’s, in Idaho Falls in 2016. The assailant was LaDonna Hall, who had “already caused some problems earlier in the night.”
Hall and Audra Fell got into an altercation outside of the bar. When Audra was pulled away, that left Steven, Hall and Hall’s mother outside.
Steven re-entered the bar moments later bleeding from his abdomen. He had been stabbed several times and went to the hospital, where his injuries were treated.
The Fells’ lawsuit claimed Fat Smitty’s failed to warn them of the danger of Hall, who had a reputation for fighting while drinking.
But Fat Smitty’s said the negligence lawsuit was actually a Dram Shop Act case in disguise and moved for summary judgment on the grounds the Fells failed to provide notice. The trial court and Supreme Court agreed.
Hall was sentenced to 4 ½ to 14 years in prison for stabbing Fell, who testified he lost his home after the incident.