Hellums v. Raber

Alan Raber (the defendant) was on a deer hunting trip with his cousin and friend. Charles Hellums (the plaintiff) was in the same area with a different hunting party, wearing orange hats. The defendant saw another truck parked on the property and a person from the plaintiff’s party, so the defendant assumed there were other people in the area. Later, the defendant’s party saw a deer and all three members of his party shot at it. As the party went to check the deer, they spotted another deer, and the defendant’s cousin shot at it. It is unclear as to whether the defendant also shot at the second deer. The plaintiff’s party, located in the same direction as the second deer, waved their orange hats to get the attention of the defendant’s party, to no avail. One of the bullets from the defendant’s cousin’s gun hit the plaintiff. The plaintiff sued all three members of the defendant’s hunting party. The defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that he did not cause the injury because the bullet that caused the injury did not come from his gun. The trial court granted the motion, and the plaintiff appealed.