Woodty v. Weston's Lamplighter Motels

OPINION

GRANT, Presiding Judge.

This appeal presents a question of first impression in Arizona: What is a motel owner’s duty, if any, to a visitor of a registered guest of the motel? In answering this question we must analyze the legal status of such a visitor and any resulting duty owed to plaintiff’s decedent, who was a visitor to the room of a registered guest at defendant-appellee’s Weston’s Lamplighter Motels dba Page Boy Motel (“the motel”).

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

During the early morning hours of March 1, 1987, Hazel Woodty, the wife of plaintiff-appellant Arley Woodty (“Woodty”),…