On July 3, 2005, Seung Park, while intoxicated, drove away from a party at the home of Ki Soo Shin, ran a red light, and crashed his van into the car that Stacey Camacho was driving, fatally injuring Stacey Camacho and injuring her minor son, Jacob. The estate of Stacey Camacho and Jesus Camacho as Jacob Camacho’s next friend “the Camachos” brought this dram shop action against Shin in the State Court of Gwinnett County. After a hearing, the trial court denied Shin’s motion for summary judgment. We granted Shin’s ensuing application for an interlocutory appeal and, for the reasons explained below, reverse the trial court’s ruling. When reviewing the grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment, this Court conducts a de novo review of the law and the evidence, construing that evidence and all reasonable inferences and conclusions therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Additionally, a party who will not bear the burden of proof at trial need not conclusively prove the opposite of each element of the non-moving party’s case. Rather, that party must demonstrate by reference to evidence in the record that there is an absence of evidence to support at least one essential element of the non-moving party’s case. Citations and punctuation omitted. Becks v. Pierce , 282 Ga. App. 229 638 SE2d 390 2006. Viewed in the light most favorable to the Camachos, the undisputed evidence shows the following. Shin and his wife hosted a barbeque on July 3, 2005, attended by about ten adults and a few children. Park drove to the party with Steve Lee as his passenger; they arrived at around 4:30 p.m. Shin provided sake Japanese-style rice wine for the party and served it during dinner. During dinner, Park drank two bottles of beer and three to five servings of sake.
As the guests sat at the table, a conversation Park was having with another guest evolved into an argument. As the argument became more heated, the other guest pushed or hit Park in the abdomen. After breaking up the fight, Shin concluded that Park had become intoxicated. Shin’s wife also concluded that Park had become intoxicated at that point, because he used foul language during the argument, when women and children were present, and because he became red in the face.
