Hotel casino liability for violent acts committed by others in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, was recently reviewed by the Nevada Supreme Court in Smith v. Mahoney's Silver Nugget.? Unfortunately, from time to time guests in Las Vegas are attacked, assaulted or battered by others while visiting our city.? The Supreme Court has looked at the issue of whether hotel/casinos are liable for attacks on patrons or guests.? The issue usually evaolves around foreseeability.?
In Smith v. Mahoney's Silver Nugget, Daniel Ott entered the Silver Nugget with two friends.? Allen Smith was seated at the bar.? One of Smith's friends began to argue with one of Ott's friends as Ott and his party were attempting to exit the Touchdown Lounge.? Over a period of ten seconds, Ott left the bar and walked over to Ott's friend and punched him in the face.? In response to this assault, Ott pulled a gun and fatally shot Smith.? The question was whether the assault was foreseeable thus imposing liability on the Silver Nugget.? While foreseeability has always been an issue in negligent security, assault and battery cases, the Court concluded that it is the District Court's call as to whether the event was foreseeable.? In other words, the Court has determined that foreseeability is a legal issue to be decided by the court, not the jury.? "The preliminary inquiry in any case involving innkeeper liability is whether the wrongful act which caused the injury or death was foreseeable."?
In determining whether an event was foreseeable, the court can look at prior similar incidents or similar wrongful acts.? Plaintiffs argued that similar violent acts outside the casino suggested that the same violent acts might occur in the casino and thus were reasonably foreseeable events.? The court disagreed.? Because there was no evidence of prior similar violent acts in the casino, the court determined that it was not reasonably foreseeable that a similar act would occur in the casino.
When someone is injured in a Las Vegas or Henderson casino, bar or hotel, the occurrence of similar violent acts including assaults, battery, robbery, etc., could impact whether the violent act was foreseeable and thus establish liability.?
Anyone visiting Las Vegas or Henderson and becomes a victim of an assault or battery needs to be aware of their legal rights as they may have an actionable? personal injury claim against the owner of the premises.? Injured persons should contact a Henderson or Las Vegas personal injury attorney specializing in premises liability.
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