Laura Jean Deem v. Charles E. Smith Management, Inc.

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

The plaintiff in this case sued the defendant landlord for failing to protect her from a criminal assault by an unknown third person. Because we find that Virginia law imposed no such duty of protection, we affirm the judgment for defendant.

I

Laura Jean Deem was the resident manager of the Windsor Towers apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia. On the night of March 19, 1983, she returned to her apartment at 9:00 after a personal errand. Because the front lot was full, she parked her car behind the building and started to walk around to the entrance. At the rear…