Weinstein v. Holmes et al.

The trial court erred in granting partial summary judgment to defendants in a negligence action arising after defendants' dogs allegedly attacked a dog plaintiff was walking, killing the dog and injuring plaintiff, as there was sufficient evidence for the issue of punitive damages to go to a jury.

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Miller, Presiding Judge. This case involves the availability of punitive damages for negligence after Laurie Weinstein was injured by dogs owned by Courtney and David Holmes when those dogs allegedly attacked Teddy, a Yorkshire Terrier, Weinstein was walking.^{^[1]} The Holmeses moved for partial summary judgment on the issue of punitive damages, arguing that there was no evidence that they had knowledge of the risk of an attack because there were no prior instances that would have put them on notice. The trial court granted the motion for partial summary judgment, finding that a single prior incident was insufficient to establish an entire want of care or conscious indifference to the consequences. This appeal followed, and we now reverse the trial court’s order on the motion for partial summary judgment because we find that there was sufficient evidence for the issue of punitive damages to go to a jury.Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 91156 (c). A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.

Weinstein v. Holmes et al.

The trial court erred in granting partial summary judgment to defendants in a negligence action arising after defendants' dogs allegedly attacked a dog plaintiff was walking, killing the dog and injuring plaintiff, as there was sufficient evidence for the issue of punitive damages to go to a jury.

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