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Host Not Liable to Overnight House Guest for Stabbing of Her by Intruder—Appeals Court
Failure to Lock Door, Turn on Alarm Insufficient to Create Duty, Opinion Says
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A man whose wife and daughter were slain by an early-morning-hours intruder is not liable to a house guest who was awakened by screaming and, coming to investigate, was herself stabbed four times, Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held.
The decision came on Friday in an unpublished opinion by Justice Julia C. Kelety. It affirms a judgment of dismissal that followed San Diego Superior Court Judge Wilfred J. Schneider Jr.’s sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend.
Defendant Xianxi Meng was the last person in the house to go to bed on the night of the occurrence, March 7, 2021. He had failed to set the alarm or to lock the sliding glass door to the backyard, enabling the intruder to gain entry.
Rejecting contentions on appeal by plaintiff Zhu Zhu, Kelety concluded that “Meng did not owe a legal duty to Zhu.”
She declared that, as a matter of law, “Meng’s failure to check the patio door and set the alarm was not ‘sufficiently likely’ to result in the attack on Zhu and the deaths of Meng’s wife and daughter.”
No prior threats or incidents were set forth in the complaint that would cause Meng to have awareness “to a specific and imminent danger” on the day of the intrusion, Kelety pointed out.
‘True Burden’
The justice reasoned:
“As to the financial and social burden that would result from a finding of duty owed to overnight guests in a private home, we are not persuaded that the burden is as minimal as Zhu argues. Because of the generalized nature of the risk, the true burden would be that every night of the year, in private residences in which people are sleeping (or otherwise vulnerable), at least one adult in the home would bear a legal duty to check all doors and windows to ensure they were locked, and to arm an alarm if the house had an alarm system. We question whether such a duty would be ‘workable’…, particularly in light of the many questions such a requirement would pose….”
She recited some question that would arise:
“[W]hich adult(s) in the home bears the duty? What is the correct time for the lock check? Would this duty only apply to homes in neighborhoods known for crime? If so, what would be the standard for determining which neighborhoods fall within that category? Would people living in more secure, affluent communities bear a lower duty to their guests than those living in neighborhoods afflicted by crime?”
‘Social Costs’
Kelety continued:
“Although Zhu is correct that the financial cost of using existing locks and alarms would be low, the social costs may well be much higher. A person living in a private residence would have to think twice before inviting a guest to spend the night, lest she incurs a legal duty beyond her ordinary routine. Something as benign as falling asleep in front of the television or leaving a door unlocked for a late-arriving family member might result in liability to others in the home.”
The case is Zhu v. Meng, D083785.
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