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Gateway Atlanta Apartments Inc. v. Harris

An apartment complex's owner did not have superior knowledge that a bail bondsman would fatally shoot the plaintiff's son at the complex in an attempt to apprehend him for bond forfeiture.

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Donta Harris was shot and killed by a bail bondsman who was attempting to apprehend him for bond forfeiture. Ruthie Harris, the decedent’s mother, brought a wrongful death action against the bail bondsmen who pursued Harris, the bail bonding companies with which they were associated, various issuers or insurers of bail bonds, and the owner and property manager of the apartment complex where Harris was shot. Several defendants moved to dismiss the action or for summary judgment. The trial court denied a number of the motions, and these four appeals followed. As the cases involve the same operative facts, we have consolidated them for this appeal. For reasons that follow, we reverse in all four cases. The record shows that Edward Tatum was a bail bondsman in North Carolina. He bailed Harris out of jail in North Carolina several times. In November 1998, Harris needed to post a $10,000 bond; Tatum issued a $5,000 surety bond through Frontier Insurance Company,1 and Henry Burke, who was a “runner” for Walter Cline of Fayetteville Bail Bonding Service, issued a $5,000 professional bond to Harris.2

When Harris failed to appear for court in June 1999, the court ordered forfeiture of Harris’s bonds. Tatum obtained a copy of the order for arrest of Harris and sought to locate him.3 Tatum and Burke found Harris in Georgia in October 1999, but were unable to capture him. In that instance, Tatum attempted to open the door of the vehicle Harris was driving; Harris “tried to crush Tatum in between the vehicles” and escaped following a high-speed chase.

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