Shin v. Ahn

In Shin v. Ahn (2007) 42 Cal.4th 482, the California Supreme Court addressed the analogous question of whether the trier of fact or the court determines, as a matter of law, if a defendant has breached a limited duty of care by engaging in reckless conduct outside the range of activity for which the plaintiff assumed the risk. (Id. at pp. 488-489.) Shin affirmed the denial of a motion for summary judgment by a golfer who struck another player with a stray ball. The court held the primary assumption of the risk doctrine was applicable to the sport of golf, but also concluded that "golfers have a limited duty of care to other players, breached only if they intentionally injure them or engage in conduct that is 'so reckless as to be totally outside the range of the ordinary activity involved in the sport.'" (Id. at p. 497.) The court held summary judgment was properly denied on the record before it, which was "too sparse to support a finding, as a matter of law, that defendant did, or did not, act recklessly." (Id. at p. 500.) The court then concluded the "jury will ultimately resolve the question based on a more complete examination of the facts." (Ibid.)