Billy W. McCLELLAN

Summary

The court held that a complaint alleging that a liquor vendor unlawfully sold alcohol to a minor who became intoxicated and caused a fatal automobile accident stated a negligence claim. It recognized both a common-law duty of reasonable care and a statutory duty toward the general public, treated statutory violations as evidence of negligence, and held that foreseeability governs proximate cause and intervening-cause questions. The dismissal was reversed and the case remanded; Rooney, Chief Justice, dissenting, would have affirmed because the statutes limited the duty to minors and the legislature, not the court, should alter the common-law rule.