LITTLE ROCK (AP) - CenterPoint Energy Resource Corp. is a proper defendant for a lawsuit filed by the wife of a man who died after an explosion stemming from a natural gas leak, the Arkansas Court of Appeals says.
However, a ruling written by Judge Sam Bird agreed with a lower court decision dismissing the suit against the owners of the apartment the couple was subletting.
According to the court's decision Wednesday, Mary and Vincent Miller moved in July 2001 into an apartment that Dana and Andy West had leased to two other people. Mary Miller found a space heater in a bedroom closet, the ruling said, and moved it after being told it was disconnected.
The court said the Millers placed an entertainment center in front of what was an uncapped gas line. A week after moving in, gas leaking into the apartment ignited, causing an explosion. Both Millers were burned severely and Vincent Miller died from his injuries 13 days later.
On July 21, 2004, Mary Miller filed a wrongful death lawsuit and a survivor claim against CenterPoint, the Wests and others. Pulaski County Judge Jay Moody granted dismissals for both the company and the apartment owners, which Miller appealed.
CenterPoint argued that the period when Miller could have filed suit expired three years after the explosion. But Bird's ruling said the three-year time limit started only from her husband's death -- meaning Miller filed in time for her suit to be considered.
'There was no final judgment or settlement by the decedent that extinguished Mrs. Miller's wrongful-death action,' Bird wrote. 'Mrs. Miller brought a wrongful-death claim within three years after the death of Mr. Miller as required.'
CenterPoint Energy Resource Corp. is a subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy of Houston. The company is the largest national gas provider in Arkansas, with about 424,000 customers.
While a similar rule would apply to Miller's suit against the Wests, Bird's ruling said the lease for the apartment specifically denied the right to sublet it. As the Wests never met the Millers -- who sublet the apartment from another couple -- or knew they were in the apartment, Bird wrote that the owners had no duty to them.
The gas line also had a shut-off valve, but the apartment's lease made no mention of them providing any repairs to the line, Bird wrote.
'They claim, and we agree, that Mrs. Miller failed to provide any proof of willful or wanton conduct beyond her unsupported allegations,' Bird wrote.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.