W. L. Coleman v. Associated Pipeline Contracttors, Inc.

DYER, Circuit Judge:

In this tort action based on the allegedly wrongful death of a seven-year-old girl, the Colemans appeal from the District Court’s directed verdict for Associated Pipeline Contractors, Inc. Applying Mississippi law, the court held that because decedent was a trespasser, or at most a gratuitous licensee, the contractor’s sole duty was to refrain from willful or wanton injury. The court determined that the embankment where the accident occurred could not be considered an attractive nuisance under precedents set by the Mississippi courts. The District Judge found that the…