Marion T. Pope Argues Landmark Case Before Georgia's Supreme Court
CANTON, Ga. (Feb. 6, 2012)– Hasty Pope attorney and former Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals Marion T. Pope Jr. argued a landmark case before the Georgia Supreme Court today in Williams vs. The Landings Association Inc.Georgia’s Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments in a suit filed by the family of 83-year-old grandmother Gwyneth Williams, who was killed by an 8-foot alligator in a Savannah gated community. The justices are reviewing a prior ruling by the state Court of Appeals that would allow the case to go to trial. A ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court is expected later this year.
Representing the Williams family, Pope and fellow attorneys Kathryn Pinckney, Robert Turner, Daniel Snipes and David Conner argued that The Landing, which had permission from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to remove any alligators from its property, knew their lagoons contained alligators and allowed them to remain without providing adequate notice of the danger. The team is arguing that liability issues such as these can only be decided by a jury.
The land owners argue they are not responsible for a wild animal attack and had no reason to foresee one.
Chatham County State Court Chief Judge H. Gregory Fowler denied the land owners a summary judgment in 2010 and ruled the case could go to trial. Last year, the state Court of Appeals ruled the trial court was correct in denying the land owners request for a summary judgment but was wrong for failing to dismiss the victim’s family’s claims that the Landings maintained a habitat that created a nuisance.
On Oct. 5, 2007, Williams, who was house-sitting for her daughter, went for a walk in the community on Skidaway Island, a coastal barrier island near Savannah. Several witnesses reported to the property’s security force they heard a woman crying for help. The following day, Williams’ mutilated body was found floating in Lagoon 15. An autopsy determined she died of massive bleeding from an alligator attack.
With offices in Canton, Atlanta and Gainesville, Hasty Pope LLP exclusively handles all types of personal injury and workers’ compensation cases, including automobile and truck accidents, wrongful death, construction accidents, and traumatic brain injury. For more information, call 770-479-0366.
