Graff v. Beard

In Graff v. Beard, 858 S.W.2d 918 (Tex. 1993), the Court was asked to "impose a duty to third parties on social hosts who make alcohol available to adult guests." Graff, 858 S.W.2d at 919. The Court focused on two implicit assumptions that would be required to impose such a duty: (1) that the host can reasonably know of the guest's alcohol consumption and intoxication and (2) that the host has the right to control the conduct of the guest. Id. at 920. Because we found those assumptions erroneous, we declined to impose a duty. Id. at 922. The Court held that the guest was in a much better position to know "the amount of alcohol he has consumed, his state of sobriety, and the consequential risk he poses to the public." Id. at 921. The Court also noted that, absent a special relationship between the host and the guest, the host did not have the right to control the guest's behavior. Id. at 920.