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LEGAL EASE

Who’s responsible
when a crime
happens?
Think twice

By George F. “Rick” Evans Jr.
BCMS General Counsel, Evans, Rowe & Holbrook

So, you’re thinking one of two things. This is one of those on your patient or the misuse of your prescription pad.
“Duh” questions as in “it’s obvious who’s responsible for a crime. Liability is far from automatic. There are some legal obstacles
The criminal, right?” Or, you’re thinking “this is one of those
trick questions lawyers use.” Well, it’s a little bit of both but the before a person can be held accountable for somebody’s crimes.
answer has relevance to you which is why it’s the subject of this For example, if a crime occurs on a property (i.e. parking lot,
month’s article. apartment complex, etc.), the person responsible for that property
is liable for it provided the following conditions exist.
Yes, it goes without saying that the person who commits a crim-
inal act is accountable for it. That’s a given. The more compli- • There have been other, reasonably similar, crimes commit-
cated question is “who else?” And here are some examples of why ted on or immediately near the property in question.
you might just want to know the answer to that question.
• These other crimes occurred recently and with some degree
Suppose you park your car at a local restaurant and come back of frequency.
after dinner to find it’s stolen. Or you leave some packages in
your car while shopping at the mall and, when you come back • Some degree of publicity or notice should have made the
after more shopping, discover your car has been broken into and property owner aware of the history of these crimes.
robbed. Or maybe your daughter is assaulted while walking back
to her apartment building. Can you make the restaurant pay for
your car? Or is the apartment manager responsible for your
daughter’s injuries or stolen purse?

Let’s look at it from a practice management standpoint. Sup-
pose one of your patients is mugged while walking from your of-
fice to the parking lot. Or suppose a patient or one of your staff
members steals your prescription pad, uses it to get drugs, and
then causes some injury while high on them? Or suppose one of
your employees sexually abuses a patient? Are you on the hook?

Texas law has evolved now to make people other than the crim-
inal liable for their crimes. So, under the right circumstances, if
it’s your car that was stolen, or broken into, or your daughter who
was assaulted, the mall owner or apartment manager may be ac-
countable. Just as you might be held accountable for an assault

32 San Antonio Medicine • December 2015