Coleman v. Hines
North Carolina Court of Appeals
515 S.E.2d 57 (1999)
Kathy Musso agreed to drink alcohol with William Hines (defendant) before, during, and after an engagement party despite her supervisor's repeated offers to drive the pair home instead; Musso and Hines both declined those offers, drank throughout the evening, and Hines, whose blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, crashed the car and killed Musso, later pleading guilty to manslaughter. Musso's estate (plaintiff) sued for wrongful death, and the trial court granted summary judgment for Hines on contributory negligence, finding Musso had assumed the risk of riding with a driver she knew was intoxicated.
Whether, in a contributory negligence jurisdiction, a plaintiff's claim is barred if her own negligent actions rose to the same level as that of a negligent defendant, unless the plaintiff can sufficiently show under the last clear chance doctrine that the defendant's failure to use every reasonable means to avoid impending injury was especially egregious.