Kooly v. State

OPINION '

MATTHEWS, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Three-year-old Daniel Craig drowned when he slipped into a partially-frozen creek at the bottom of a popular sledding hill. We must decide whether the State of Alaska can be held liable for his death because the sledding hill was part of a state right-of-way. We conclude that it cannot because the State does not owe a duty of care to sledders on its rights-of-way.

II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On December 12, 1993, Shannon Kooly took her son Daniel and several other children sledding at an area known as the Beaver Creek sledding hill. The sledding hill is…