Martin v. Herrington Mill LP

Plaintiff's mental illness did not render her incapable of managing the ordinary affairs of life and did not toll the statute of limitation on her premises liability claim.

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In this premises-liability action, Catherine Martin sued the owner of her apartment complex, Herrington Mill, LP, alleging that she was sexually assaulted as a result of Herrington Mill’s failure to, inter alia, keep its premises safe. Herrington Mill filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that Martin’s claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitation. The trial court granted Herrington Mill’s motion, and Martin now appeals, contending that genuine issues of fact exist as to whether she suffered mental incapacity sufficient to toll the statute of limitation. For the reasons set forth infra, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Herrington Mill.

Viewed in the light most favorable to Martin i.e., the nonmoving party,1 the record shows that on April 14, 2007, an unknown assailant broke into Martin’s Herrington Mill apartment and sexually assaulted her. Nearly 20 years prior to this assault, Martin was diagnosed as suffering from depression and an anxiety disorder, and as recently as 2006, she sought in-patient psychiatric treatment for those problems. A few weeks after the assault, Martin was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder “PTSD” and began psychological counseling sessions for treatment related to the assault, as well as her other mental-health issues, with a licensed clinical social worker. For the most part, these counseling sessions took place in Martin’s home, but in October 2008, she again voluntarily sought in-patient psychiatric treatment for her depression and anxiety disorder and was therefore hospitalized for two weeks.

Martin v. Herrington Mill LP

Plaintiff's mental illness did not render her incapable of managing the ordinary affairs of life and did not toll the statute of limitation on her premises liability claim.

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