Civil Code section 1714, subdivision (c)
Although some of the facts are disputed, we view the record in a light most favorable to plaintiffs and assume as true plaintiffs' version of all disputed facts presented in opposition to the summary judgment motion. (Wilson v. Murillo (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 1124, 1128 [78 Cal.Rptr.3d 214].)
In April 2007, 20-year-old Manosa hosted a house party at a vacant rental residence owned by her parents. The party was publicized to friends and nonfriends by word of mouth, telephone, and text messaging, resulting in approximately 40 to 60 people in attendance. The majority of the people at the party were under age 21, and about one-third were unknown to Manosa. Earlier in the day, Manosa provided money to purchase beer, tequila, and rum. The alcoholic beverages were "communal" and available without limitation to the partygoers. Some guests brought their own alcoholic beverages to the party.
Between $50 and $60 was collected from the entrance fee; some of that money was used to buy additional alcoholic beverages during the course of the party.
Andrew Ennabe, age 19, a friend of Manosa, was not charged an admission fee. Earlier, Ennabe had been to another party. He arrived at Manosa's party in a state of obvious intoxication, and there he drank more alcoholic beverages. Thomas Garcia, age 20, was unknown to Manosa. Garcia was admitted to Manosa's party after he paid an admission fee for himself and a group of his friends. The person who took his money told him that there were alcoholic beverages if he wanted them. When Garcia arrived at Manosa's party, he was in a state of obvious intoxication. At the party he drank alcoholic beverages and acted in a rowdy and belligerent manner. After Garcia harassed female guests and dropped his pants several times, he was asked to leave the party. Ennabe and some other guests escorted Garcia off the premises and to his car. In driving away, Garcia struck Ennabe, who died a week later from his injuries. Garcia was convicted of a felony in connection with the death of Ennabe and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Manosa did not know Garcia or his friends; she never saw Garcia during the party, did not know he was there, and was not aware of any problems with Garcia or other party guests. The April 2007 party was the only social gathering Manosa had held on the property.
Andrew Ennabe's parents, on behalf of themselves and the estate of their son, filed a wrongful death action against Manosa. After answering the amended complaint, Manosa moved for summary judgment on the grounds that she was immune from liability under Civil Code section 1714 and that Business and Professions Code section 25602.1 was not applicable. In opposition to the motion, plaintiffs argued that Manosa was not acting as a "social host" under Civil Code section 1714, subdivision (c) because she charged a fee to unknown and uninvited guests and that Manosa had forfeited immunity from civil liability under section 25602.1 for the same reason. After
Plaintiffs seek to impose civil liability on Manosa under the "required to be licensed" and the "any other person who sells" clauses of section 25602.1. As explained below, we conclude that the facts viewed most favorably to plaintiffs establish as a matter of law that Manosa (1) did not "sell or cause to be sold" an alcoholic beverage and (2) was not "required to be licensed" within the meaning of section 25602.1.
We exercise a de novo standard in reviewing a ruling on a summary judgment motion and underlying statutory construction issues. (MacIsaac v. Waste Management Collection & Recycling, Inc. (2005) 134 Cal.App.4th 1076, 1081-1082 [36 Cal.Rptr.3d 650] (MacIsaac); Barner v. Leeds (2000) 24 Cal.4th 676, 683 [102 Cal.Rptr.2d 97, 13 P.3d 704] [statutory construction].)
In the 1970's in a series of three cases, our Supreme Court applied common law negligence principles to cases involving injuries caused by a person who had consumed alcoholic beverages. (See Vesely v. Sager, supra, 5 Cal.3d 153 (Vesely); Bernhard v. Harrah's Club, supra, 16 Cal.3d 313; Coulter v. Superior Court, supra, 21 Cal.3d 144.) "In reaction to these decisions, rare in terms of its specificity, the Legislature adopted section 25602, subdivisions (b) and (c) and stated that `. . . this section shall be interpreted so that the holdings in cases such as Vesely . . . Bernhard . . . and Coulter . . . be abrogated in favor of prior judicial interpretation finding the consumption of alcoholic beverages rather than the serving of alcoholic beverages as the proximate cause of injuries inflicted upon another by an intoxicated person.' (§ 25602, subd. (c).) Similar directive language was adopted as an amendment to Civil Code section 1714. (Civ. Code, § 1714, subd. (b).)" (Salem v. Superior Court (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 595, 599-600 [259 Cal.Rptr. 447].) In 1978, the Legislature enacted subdivision (c) of Civil Code section 1714.
Also enacted in 1978, the original version of section 25602.1 provided a narrow exception to the broad immunity created by section 25602 and Civil Code section 1714. Under former section 25602.1, civil liability could be imposed on a licensee who "sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be sold, furnished or given away" an alcoholic beverage to an obviously intoxicated minor. (Former § 25602.1; Zieff v. Weinstein (1987) 191 Cal.App.3d 243, 248 [236 Cal.Rptr. 536].)
According to an analysis of the 1986 bill which amended section 25602.1, "The purpose of this bill is to close gaps in the law which impose civil liability for selling alcohol to obviously intoxicated minors. [¶] According to the Senate Judiciary Committee analysis, [former section 25602.1] presently imposes potential civil liability for serving obviously intoxicated minors only
With this legislative history in mind, we address the issues of whether Manosa is liable under the "any other person who sells" clause or the "required to be licensed" clause of section 25602.1.
Although the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (§ 23000 et seq.) contains a definition of "sell," "sale," and "to sell" in section 23025, the definition by itself does not resolve the issue of whether a social host who collects money from guests for a common fund with which to purchase alcoholic beverages or to help defray the cost of obtaining alcoholic beverages is a person "who sells, or causes to be sold," an alcoholic beverage within the meaning of section 25602.1.
Section 23025 defines "sell," "sale," and "to sell" as including "any transaction whereby, for any consideration, title to alcoholic beverages is transferred from one person to another, and includes the delivery of alcoholic beverages pursuant to an order placed for the purchase of such beverages and soliciting or receiving an order for such beverages, but does not include the return of alcoholic beverages by a licensee to the licensee from whom such beverages were purchased."
But it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine which individual or individuals held title to the alcoholic beverages consumed by Garcia because
Our interpretation of section 25602.1 is consistent with the result in the only other case in California addressing the issue of the liability of a minor social host where money is pooled to purchase alcoholic beverages for a party. Although Bennett v. Letterly (1977) 74 Cal.App.3d 901 [141 Cal.Rptr. 682] (Bennett) predated the 1978 legislation discussed above, the case is instructive because it addressed the scope of "furnishing" under a former version of section 25658, subdivision (a), making it a misdemeanor to sell, furnish, give, or cause to be sold, furnished or given away to a minor any alcoholic beverage. (Bennett, at p. 904.) In Bennett, Letterly, a minor, hosted a party at his home for his classmates when his parents were away on vacation. Letterly and a friend, Howell, both contributed money to a common fund to purchase alcoholic beverages. Three minors, Howell, Alvarez, and Baca, left the party and went to a local liquor store, where Alvarez persuaded an unknown adult to buy liquor for them, using the pooled money. Upon returning to the party, Howell poured and mixed his own whiskey drink and served himself. Howell later drove his car into Bennett's car, injuring Bennett.
In upholding a summary judgment granted in favor of Letterly, the Court of Appeal rejected Bennett's argument that Letterly was civilly liable based on a violation of former section 25658, subdivision (a). The court reasoned, "Assuming for the purpose of argument that the rule of Vesely[, supra, 5 Cal.3d 153,] . . . applies to a purely social situation such as that presented
The court in Bennett concluded: "The undisputed facts are that [Letterly] did no more than contribute $2 to $5 to a common fund intended to be used for the purchase of liquor. He did not himself purchase the liquor. There is no evidence that, once the alcohol was purchased and brought back to [Letterly's] house, he exercised any control over, or even handled, the bottle of whiskey Howell and Baca consumed. All the evidence indicates that Howell and Baca consumed the entire bottle of whiskey, pouring and mixing their own drinks and serving themselves. On these facts [Letterly] was not guilty of furnishing an alcoholic beverage or causing such to be furnished in violation of section 25658, subdivision (a)." (Bennett, supra, 74 Cal.App.3d at p. 905; see also Sagadin v. Ripper (1985) 175 Cal.App.3d 1141, 1157 [221 Cal.Rptr. 675] [characterizing Bennett as standing for proposition that "the mere act of contributing to a common fund for the purchase of liquor [does not] constitute furnishing where the defendant never exercised any control over the alcohol consumed by his companions"].)
(9) Because the Legislature is deemed to be aware of statutes and judicial decisions already in existence when it enacts and amends statutes (Schifando v. City of Los Angeles (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1074, 1096 [6 Cal.Rptr.3d 457, 79 P.3d 569]), we deem the Legislature to have been aware of Bennett and to have approved its narrow definition of "furnish" when it enacted section 25602.1 and Civil Code section 1714, subdivision (c) in 1978.
Relying on section 23399.1 and an interpretation of section 23399.1 as applied to private parties in the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's
Section 23399.1 provides: "No license or permit shall be required for the serving and otherwise disposing of alcoholic beverages where all of the following conditions prevail: [¶] 1. That there is no sale of an alcoholic beverage. [¶] 2. That the premises are not open to the general public during the time alcoholic beverages are served, consumed or otherwise disposed of. [¶] 3. That the premises are not maintained for the purpose of keeping, serving, consuming or otherwise disposing of alcoholic beverages. [¶] Provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed to permit any person to violate any provision of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act."
The circumstances of this case establish that no license was required for Manosa's party because the three conditions of section 23399.1 were met. For the reasons set out in part B. of the Discussion, we conclude that there was no sale of an alcoholic beverage to Garcia within the meaning of sections 23399.1, 25602.1, and 23025. In a section of the TEIG dealing with private parties, a note provides, "Be aware that the definition of `sale' includes
The remaining two conditions of section 23399.1 are met: the residence where Manosa held her party was not open to the general public, but only to those to whom the party was publicized; and the residence, used by Manosa for a party on only that one occasion, was not maintained for the purpose of keeping, serving, consuming, or disposing of alcoholic beverages.
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that, as a matter of law, Manosa does not fall within the "required to be licensed" clause of section 25602.1.
As Manosa does not fall within the exceptions to immunity from civil liability set out in section 25602.1, we need not address other issues raised in her brief.
The judgment is affirmed. Defendant Jessica Manosa is entitled to her costs on appeal.
Chaney, J., and Johnson, J., concurred.
On January 1, 2011, an amended version of Civil Code section 1714 will take effect which adds subdivision (d) to provide: "Nothing in subdivision (c) shall preclude a claim against a parent, guardian, or another adult who knowingly furnishes alcoholic beverages at his or her residence to a person under 21 years of age, in which case, notwithstanding subdivision (b), the furnishing of the alcoholic beverage may be found to be the proximate cause of resulting injuries or death." (Stats. 2010, ch. 154, § 1.)
Section 25602.1 provides: "Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 25602, a cause of action may be brought by or on behalf of any person who has suffered injury or death against any person licensed, or required to be licensed, pursuant to Section 23300, or any person authorized by the federal government to sell alcoholic beverages on a military base or other federal enclave, who sells, furnishes, gives or causes to be sold, furnished or given away any alcoholic beverage, and
The portions of section 25602.1 in italics and bold type are at issue in this appeal. We refer to the italicized portion as the "required to be licensed" clause and the bold portion as the "any other person who sells" clause.
Section 23300 provides: "No person shall exercise the privilege or perform any act which a licensee may exercise or perform under the authority of a license unless the person is authorized to do so by a license issued pursuant to this division."