CHARLESTON – The Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the bar where Del. Eric Porterfield (R-Mercer) was blinded in 2006 had no way of knowing a fight would break out.
Justices Mark Massa authored the majority opinion. He was joined by Justices Loretta H. Rush and Geoffrey G. Slaughter. Justice Christopher M. Goff dissented.
Porterfield was blinded during a bar fight outside of Cavanaugh's Sports Bar & Eatery. During the fight, Porterfield suffered permanent injury that rendered him blind, according to the March 3 opinion.
Porterfield
In the suit, Porterfield alleged that the bar failed to care for his safety, but the bar argued it couldn't have known that the bar fight was going to occur because it hadn't seen any "taunting, arguing or other contentious communication" between Porterfield and any of the other bar patrons that night.
The trial court denied summary judgment and the interlocutory appeal court affirmed that judgment. The bar then appealed to the state Supreme Court.
"Unlike the cases where courts have found a duty when a landowner knew or should have known about likely looming harm, Porterfield does not show that Cavanaugh's had any reason to believe the fight would occur," Massa wrote. "The skirmish occurred suddenly and without warning: four hours before the fracas, Porterfield and his friend socialized with bartenders and had no animosity with any other customers."
The court reversed and remanded the trial court's decision, ordering the court to enter summary judgment for Cavanaugh's.
Goff wrote in his dissent that he would've resolved the case differently because he believed Cavanaugh's owed Porterfield a duty of care and he would have affirmed the trial court's denial of the summary judgment motion.
"I believe that reasonable people would have recognized the unremarkable nature of a fistfight involving bar patrons at the bar's early morning closing time, and they would take precautions to avoid it," Goff wrote.
Porterfield has been a delegate in West Virginia since 2018. He is also the president of Blind Faith Ministries.
Porterfield has generated much controversy in his two years in office. He has spoken out against LGBTQ rights in both committee meetings and interviews with news agencies.
Indiana Supreme Court case number 20S-CT-88