The Third Circuit Court of Appeal this week sided with Marley's Sports Bar on Jefferson Street downtown, backing a lower court's summary judgement in a suit accusing the night spot of failing to offer adequate security for a pair of patrons who were attacked outside the bar.
Jeffery Arkell, the plaintiff, and a friend were beaten up by a group of six men, one of them wielding a baseball bat, on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2006, shortly after the bar had closed. Arkell suffered stab wounds, a broken arm and a contusion to the head. The appeals court, however, ruled that Marley's was not responsible for providing security outside its premises after closing time: "Our initial inquiry in this case is whether Marley's owed Jeffery a duty to protect him from attack in the middle of Garfield Street after closing hours," the Third Circuit opinion states. "The law is clear, it did not."