Rudolph v. Arizona B.A.S.S. Federation

898 P.2d 1000 (Ct. App. 1995)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Grand Canyon Bass Busters (D1) sponsored a fishing tournament. They held the tournament at Bartlett Lake. Some members objected to this site as it was too congested with boat and jet ski traffic. D1 got a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. This permit was signed by Diaz (D2), who was president of D1. The permit conditioned acceptance on D1 ensuring that their participants operate their boats in a safe and reasonable manner without endangering peace and safety. D1 did not patrol the lake to ensure the conduct of its members because members were expected to police themselves. There were no safety instructions given, but D1 did advise members to be courteous. The lake was over 2,700 acres, but there was only one weigh-in site located near the main boat launch area. The rules required members to return before the 1:00 p.m. deadline. Heather, the deceased, and a friend were riding their jet ski on the lake, and a boat operated by Kirkland collided with her jet ski, and both Heather and her friend died at the scene. Kirkland was participating in the tournament, and the collision occurred 5 minutes before the tournament deadline with Kirkland running at 40 m.p.h. with five more miles to reach the weigh-in station. A passenger in the boat had a fish that just might win the tournament. P sued for wrongful death alleging that Ds were negligent in providing only one weigh-in station and requiring all participants to return at the same time when the lake was congested and for negligently failing to supervise its members. D1 and D2 moved for summary judgment; they owed no duty to Heather because there was no special relationship between them and that they were not in control of the actions of Kirkland or Heather. They claimed they owed no duty to Heather and that if they did any breach of that duty was not the cause of Heather’s death. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment and dismissed against D1 and D2. P appealed.