Michael Becker and Kimberly Sheridan (Atlanta, GA) (Premises Liability/Negligent Security) obtained a Dismissal in the State Court of DeKalb County. Plaintiff was assaulted outside of a hotel and her room was robbed.
The Defense argued that there was no evidence of Plaintiff’s room being robbed because Plaintiff was unconscious at the alleged time, that Plaintiff’s security expert affidavit was based on uncertified or unsworn police reports that were not produced, and that the same affidavit failed to show proximate cause because it only contained summary legal conclusions about foreseeability rather than examining any role of the defendant’s security failures. The Defense also pointed out that Plaintiff’s other expert affidavit only spoke to how Plaintiff’s memory could be affected by trauma, which impermissibly served as an expert opinion on how credible the Plaintiff was.
Last, the Defense argued that even if improvements were made that it would not have prevented the acts, pointing out that Plaintiff forgetting to lock her door or her invitation of the perpetrators inside were equally (if not more) likely to be the case with what little evidence the Plaintiff presented. The only evidence the jury would have considered would be impermissible speculation regarding security failures.
The court granted the motion and entered judgment in favor of the Defense.