Peters v. Bowman
California Supreme Court
115 Cal. 345, 47 P. 598 (1897)
- Written by Sharon Feldman, JD
Facts
C.E. Bowman (defendant) owned sloped, vacant property. San Francisco built an embankment that caused a pond to form on Bowman’s land during the rainy season. Uninvited children visited Bowman’s property and played on the pond. Bowman drove children away once. Henry Peters (plaintiff) sued Bowman for damages after his 11-year-old son drowned in the pond. The jury found for Bowman. Peters appealed, arguing that Bowman should be held liable under the turntable-cases rule, which imposes a duty on a landowner to protect trespassing children against harm if an instrumentality on the landowner’s premises may be expected to attract and be dangerous to young children. The California Supreme Court affirmed. Peters petitioned for rehearing, arguing that he had cited City of Pekin v. McMahon as authority for applying the turntable-cases rule.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Beatty, C.J.)
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