Can a defendant be held liable in a wrongful death action for furnishing intoxicating beverages to a deceased?

Cole was a wrongful death action in which plaintiffs sought to recover damages against defendants for furnishing intoxicating beverages to the deceased, who was killed thereafter in a fist fight. (Supra, 45 Cal.2d at p. 347, 289 P.2d 450.) Plaintiffs alleged that defendants knew the deceased became belligerent, pugnacious, and quarrelsome when intoxicated (ibid. ), but did not allege the deceased was incompetent or incapable of voluntary action (at p. 354, 289 P.2d 450). Concluding that no cause of action had been pled, the Cole court stated that the general common law rule as to tort liability arising out of the sale of intoxicating beverages " 'gives no remedy for injury or death following the mere sale of liquor to the ordinary man, either on the theory that it is a direct wrong or on the ground that it is negligence, which imposes a legal liability on the seller for damages resulting from the intoxication.' " (Id., at p. 348, 289 P.2d 450, quoting from 30 Am.Jur. 573, 607; see also Cantor v. Anderson, supra, 126 Cal.App.3d at p. 130, 178 Cal.Rptr. 540.) Cole explained further "that as to a competent person it is the voluntary consumption, not the sale or gift, of intoxicating liquor which is the proximate cause of injury from its use; ..." (Cole v. Rush, supra, 45 Cal.2d at p. 356, 289 P.2d 450; Cantor v. Anderson, supra, 126 Cal.App.3d at p. 130, 178 Cal.Rptr. 540.)