Wright v. City of Los Angeles

• Decision Date: 30 March 1990
• Docket Number: No. B014233,B014233
• Citation: 219 Cal.App.3d 318,268 Cal.Rptr. 309
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Jerry Eugene WRIGHT, Sr., et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants and Appellants.

Page 309

268 Cal.Rptr. 309

219 Cal.App.3d 318

Jerry Eugene WRIGHT, Sr., et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants and Appellants.

No. B014233.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 1, California.

March 30, 1990.

Review Denied June 20, 1990.

Michaelson & Levine, Alvin S. Michaelson, Janet I. Levine and Robert L. Shapiro, for plaintiffs and appellants.

James K. Hahn, City Atty., John T. Neville, Sr. Asst. City Atty., and Katherine J. Hamilton, Deputy City Atty., for defendants and appellants.

INTRODUCTION

SPENCER, Presiding Justice.

This action arises out of the death of Jerry Eugene Wright, Jr. Plaintiffs and appellants are his parents, Jerry Eugene Wright, Sr. and Ethel Mae Wright, and brother and sister, Donald Troy Wright and Sharon Carol Wright. Defendants and respondents are the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Robert Saurman and Los Angeles Fire Department paramedic Daniel Maloney.

On March 31, 1980, plaintiffs filed their complaint against these defendants, and several others later dismissed, for wrongful death (negligence--count 1; false imprisonment--count 2; and assault and battery--count 3); negligent infliction of emotional distress--count 6; intentional infliction of emotional distress--counts 7, 11; false imprisonment--count 8; and deprivation The fifth and tenth causes of action were dismissed prior to trial. The trial began on March 11, 1985. After the plaintiffs had rested, the trial court granted defendants' motion for nonsuit pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 581c as to count 4 (deprivation of constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983) and as to count 9 (deprivation of constitutional rights under the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments). The trial court granted defendants' motion for nonsuit as to defendants Lovan, Titiriga, and Arbeit, which rulings plaintiffs do not appeal. The trial court also granted defendants' motion for nonsuit as to plaintiffs Jerry Eugene Wright, Sr., and Darlene Buckhanon in count 8 (false imprisonment) and as to plaintiffs Darlene Buckhanon and George Buckhanon in count 11 (intentional infliction of emotional distress).

of constitutional rights--counts 4-5, 9-10.

The jury found for plaintiffs on the first cause of action (for wrongful death) and awarded $2 million damages, and on the sixth cause of action (for negligent infliction of emotional distress) and awarded $100,000 damages. On May 17, 1985, the trial court granted motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict as to those two causes of action. The trial court alternatively granted a motion for a new trial as to these causes of action should the JNOV not be sustained on appeal. The jury found for defendants on the second, third, seventh, eighth and eleventh causes of action.

Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal on May 20, 1985. On June 3, 1985, defendants filed a notice of cross-appeal. Plaintiffs appeal from the judgments of nonsuit, the judgments in favor of defendants and the judgments notwithstanding the verdicts. Defendants cross-appeal as a protective measure.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Witnesses Delores Carter Williams and Robin Walker

On May 19, 1979, Delores Carter Williams (Williams) and Robin Walker (Walker) were staying at 3910 Coco in apartment number 8. At 2:15 or 2:30 a.m., Williams heard loud footsteps coming from more than one person and heard someone screaming, "Help, police, I'm being robbed." Walker also heard the screaming. They went to a window and looked out. Williams initially could not see anyone, but Walker saw a fat man picking up a skinny man and hitting him up against the side of a Vega automobile.

They thought the man screaming sounded like Williams's brother, and Williams called out her brother's name. The man responded that he was Jerry Eugene Wright (Jerry) and he lived at 3910 Coco in apartment number 1; he asked them to go get help. At this point, Williams was able to see the two men. She saw the other man beating Jerry; Jerry tried to get into the Vega, but the other man pulled him away and beat him. Williams then left to get help.

Walker watched the fight and saw the fat man continue to punch and hit Jerry while Jerry tried to defend himself. Then a man came out of an apartment across the street and hit the fat man, who fell under the Vega. The man then helped Jerry into the Vega and ran back across the street. It appeared to Walker as though Jerry was having difficulty moving; he seemed exhausted. He started up the Vega, it rolled backwards, then stopped; Jerry just sat there. It looked to Walker as though the Vega might have run over the fat man when it rolled back. Neither she nor Williams saw the automobile move again.

Walker then saw a police vehicle arrive with two officers inside. They got out of their vehicle; one had his gun drawn and pointed at Jerry. They told Jerry to come out of the Vega and put his hands up; Jerry did not comply, but remained in the automobile slouched and leaning against the back of the driver's seat. Walker heard another guest in apartment number 8, Alisha Jackson, holler to the police not to shoot, that Jerry could not get out of the automobile or put his hands up because he was beaten up or hurt, and that the man on Meanwhile, Williams had gone to apartment number 1 and knocked on the door; Jerry's brother answered. She asked if anyone there knew Jerry and said he was being beaten up and needed help. They went to the front of the building and found two police officers there, who would not permit them to go past the front gate. Williams then returned to apartment number 8; she went to a window and observed the police ask Jerry to get out of the Vega; she did not notice whether they had their weapons drawn. Jerry began moving toward the passenger side of the automobile, but he appeared to have difficulty moving. When he got to the door, the police grabbed him and pulled him out; he fell and landed on his back. One of the officers poked him with a baton, but he did not move. The other officer pushed him over onto his stomach, put his hands behind him and handcuffed him. At this point, Jerry was lying on the grass parkway, with his head leaning over the sidewalk; one of the officers kicked him between his neck and shoulders and moved his head back onto the grass.

the ground had done it. The officers opened the passenger door on the Vega and got Jerry out of the automobile and onto the parkway; Walker did not see how they accomplished this, because the officers were blocking her view. Jerry was half on the grass and half in the gutter; one of the officers kicked Jerry over into the gutter. Walker then saw Jerry lying face down on the grass parkway with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Williams heard Jerry loudly complaining that his head hurt; Walker could not remember Jerry saying how he felt. Both women heard him ask for water. An ambulance with two paramedics arrived; the paramedics got out and came to within three to five feet of Jerry. Williams heard one of them say, " 'He's loaded.' " Neither woman saw the paramedics touch Jerry or take his pulse or blood pressure. The paramedics then left. Jerry continued to ask for water; neither Williams nor Walker ever saw anyone bring him water.

Williams heard someone--she thought it was Jerry's mother, who had come out of the apartment building--request a blanket for Jerry; eventually, one was provided. Williams and Walker saw a second pair of paramedics arrive, look at Jerry, and put a blanket over his head.

Walker estimated that it was 15 minutes from the time she first heard the fight until the time the police arrived. Williams estimated it was 25 to 30 minutes from the time she came out of the apartment building until the time the second pair of paramedics arrived. Williams indicated the light in the area was not good; as a result, neither woman was able to identify the police officers involved.

Donald Troy Wright and Sharon Carol Wright

Donald Troy Wright (Donald) and Sharon Carol Wright (Sharon) were Jerry's brother and sister. Donald was two years older than Jerry and Sharon one year older. At the time of his death, Jerry was 20 years old. All three lived with their mother at 3910 Coco in apartment number 1.

Early in the morning on May 19, 1979, they heard knocking on their door. Donald answered and a young lady asked if he knew Jerry Eugene Wright; he said he did. She told him Jerry was outside getting beaten up in a fight. He quickly went outside, where he saw Jerry in the Vega on the passenger side, "kind of wiggling ... from the side, like he was in some type of pain or shock," with his eyes opened wide. His head was tilted backwards over the seat, and he looked like he was having difficulty "healthwise." Donald also saw two police officers there; one was on the driver's side of the Vega with a gun pointed in Jerry's direction, and the other was on the passenger side shining a flashlight on Jerry. Jerry wiggled to the door and somehow got out of the automobile; Donald could not see how, in that the police officers were blocking his view.

One of the officers took Donald to the man who had beaten Jerry, who was lying in the street, and asked whether he knew the man; he said he did not. Donald then In the meantime, Sharon came outside. She saw the paramedics getting ready to leave, about six police officers and a lot of other people standing around. Someone--either a paramedic or a police officer--mentioned drugs and asked her whether Jerry was on drugs and whether he used drugs; she kept telling them no. Donald also was asked whether Jerry was on drugs, and he replied that Jerry did not use drugs.

saw Jerry lying face down on the parkway with handcuffs on. The officers took him over to Jerry and asked whether he knew what happened to him; again, he said he did not. He returned to the apartment building and knocked on the window--he had not brought his keys to the...