Jones v. Secord

Lawrence Secord (defendant) banned his grandson Michael Woodbury from his hunting cabin after an argument when Woodbury was 17, and the two barely spoke over the following 13 years while Woodbury committed a series of felonies, including armed robbery. Secord kept a handgun hidden under his cabin's water heater with ammunition in plain sight, a location known to family members who'd used the cabin for decades, including Woodbury from his childhood visits. Years later, after brief, unwelcome contact with Secord at his separate Maine residence, Woodbury broke into the cabin, stole the gun, and killed three people. Gary Jones's family (plaintiffs) sued Secord, claiming his negligent gun storage proximately caused Jones's death; the trial court granted Secord summary judgment, and the family appealed.