|
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
TETER
V. CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH
Jones & Mayer filed an Amicus Curiae
brief on behalf of State Sheriffs, California Police Chiefs, California
Police Officers Association, and 10 cities in the case of Teter v. City
of Newport Beach. The case is currently pending before the California
Supreme Court involving issues of a public entity's immunity from suit
where injuries are inflicted on a prisoner, by a prisoner. (Gov. Code
§§844.6.) The injured prisoner was booked into Newport Beach city jail
for being drunk in public. [P.C. §§647(f).] The city does not utilize
a section of the penal code permitting a person arrested for drunk in
public to be taken to an alcohol detoxification center in lieu of being
booked and processed for a criminal violation. In most cases the city
does release the arrestee as soon as he or she sobers up. In this case
Teter was seriously injured by another prisoner before he sobered up
and was released. The release is permitted by P.C. §§849(b)(2) and once
released, no further criminal proceedings are pursued and the arrest
is deemed a detention only. The Court of Appeal ruled that once the
decision to release had been made, Teter became a "civil detainee" and
was no longer a prisoner. Therefore, G.C. §844.6 did not apply. All
briefing is completed and it should be scheduled for oral argument in
the spring.
PEOPLE
V. STANISTREET
The California Supreme Court, in the
case of People v. Stanistreet has unanimously overruled the Cout of
Appeal and held that P.C. 148.6 is constitutional. The Supreme Court's
decision reaffirmed that it is a misdemeanor for a person to accuse
a peace officer of misconduct, if the accuser knows the allegation is
false. The firm of Jones & Mayer had the privilege to prepare and
submit an Amicus Curiae brief on behalf of the California State Sheriffs
Association, the California Police Chiefs Association and the California
Peace Officers Association, supporting the constitutionality of the
section.
CALIFORNIA
SUPREME COURT DECISION IN RE ROSENKRANTZ
In a recent decision
by the California Supreme Court, (In re Robert Rosenkrantz), the Supreme
Court agreed with the arguments made in the Amicus Brief submitted by
Martin and Michael for the California State Sheriff's Association, California
Police Chief's Association and California Peace Office's Association.
Kudos to Martin J. Mayer and Michael R. Capizzi for the successful brief.
Specifically the California Supreme Court stated: "The evidence does
not support the trial court's finding that the Governor follows a policy
of denying parole to all prisoners convicted of murder without regard
to the circumstances of the individual case". For more information on
the Amicus Brief, consult our website at www.Jones-Mayer.com. for the
upcoming Client Alert Memorandum on the subject.
POLICE
LITIGATION
POLICE
PURSUIT POLICY SUSTAINED PURSUANT TO VEHICLE CODE §17004.7
The recent proliferation
and media glamorization of police pursuits, often ending in violent
tragedy for innocent bystanders, underscores the vital necessity of
a public entity to adopt and defend a valid police pursuit policy pursuant
to Vehicle Code §17004.7, in order to shield itself from significant
liability exposure. Jones & Mayer, through senior litigator Harold
W. Potter, successfully defended the City of Westminster and its police
pursuit policy in a recent published opinion by the Fourth Appellate
District, Division Three, in Nguyen v. City of Westminster, 2002 Cal.
App. Lexis 5047. The facts of the case were indeed tragic, and had the
potential to expose the City of Westminster to a multi-million dollar
verdict. Plaintiffs were represented by the preeminent law firm of Greene,
Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler & Panish.
POLICE
MID-MANAGER'S TERMINATION UPHELD
A sworn, mid-manager
on a California police/sheriffs department had been fired for, among
other lesser charges, having had either actual or constructive notice
of his wife's criminal activity. The wife had been convicted of multiple
counts of securing large loans from other city/county employees by fraudulently
claiming emergency financial circumstances on her or some family member's
part. The main thrust of the department's case theory was that of constructive
notice as defined by Civil Code §19, which states that "Every person
who has actual notice of circumstances sufficient to put a prudent man
upon inquiry as to a particular fact has constructive notice of the
fact itself in all cases in which, by prosecuting such inquiry, he might
have learned such fact." Here, the department through Paul R. Coble,
was able to establish that this manager had sufficient knowledge of
his wife's loan activity as to have caused a reasonable or prudent person
to have inquired further - i.e., to have kept an eye on family finances
- and, having inquired, to have learned of the crimes she was actually
committing. Having established that he knew or through reasonable inquiry,
about his wife's criminal activity, and that it was his duty to have
detected and reported this activity, his termination was upheld by the
council/board in this jurisdiction.
CITY
LITIGATION
JUDGMENT
ENTERED IN FAVOR OF CITY OF WESTMINSTER
Scott
v. City of Westminster - In this case, a landowner of two adjoining
parcels sought a CUP to expand a towing business from one parcel onto
both the original and adjoining parcel. The City Council's denial of
the CUP, after
a re-hearing, was challenged in an action for a Writ of Mandate and
Complaint for Damages for Inverse Condemnation. The City's action was
defended by Kimberly Hall Barlow and after taking the matter under submission
for purposes of reviewing the administrative record, the Court denied
the Petition and ordered Judgment entered in favor of the City.
FIRM
NEWS
RICHARD
JONES NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE ORANGE COUNTY CITY ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION
Congratulations
to Richard D. Jones, who will be serving as President of the Orange
County City Attorneys' Association, effective January 1, 2003. The Orange
County City Attorneys' Association is a professional group that meets
once a month to discuss topics such as "Conflicts of Interests", "Mediation
and Other Alternative Dispute Resolution Tools", and "Red Light Camera
Enforcement,"just to name a few.
ABRAZAR,
INC.
Thomas Duarte
of Jones & Mayer has recently joined ABRAZAR, Inc. as a member of
their Board. The specific and primary purpose of the Corporation is
to promote the general welfare and prosperity of the very poor to medium
income population of Hispanic origin in Orange County. Programs and
services of the corporation will foster and advance the living conditions
of Hispanics, senior citizens, the family unit and its member which
will include, but not be limited to, programs and services addressing
needs in mental health, housing, transportation, nutrition, education,
physical health, counseling, welfare and rehabilitation.
THE GARY
CENTER
Yolanda McDonough
of Jones & Mayer has recently been appointed a member of the board
of the Gary Center. The Gary Center was created in 1971 by the Stafford
family of La Habra. In the 28 years since its founding, the Gary Center
has grown from the La Habra Community Center to a North Orange County
regional service agency. The Gary Center's mission is to provide quality,
affordable, community based services to families and individuals. The
center's primary emphasis is on child well-being, education, and supporting
the entire family and fostering a healthy community.
JONES & MAYER RETAINED BY CITY OF MORENO VALLEY AS SPECIAL DEPUTY CITY
PROSECUTOR
Gregory Palmer
of Jones & Mayer was recently retained by the City of Moreno Valley
as their Special Deputy City Prosecutor for Code Enforcement. Mr. Palmer
will be specifically working on a case involving numerous building and
electrical code violations at a skate park privately owned by a lay
minster who preaches the gospel during breaks in skating. A permanent
injunction hearing will be held this month. Jones & Mayer currently
represents 16 municipalities as their City Prosecutor, assisting the
cities in code enforcement efforts.
JONES & MAYER HIRE TWO NEW ASSOCIATES
Jones & Mayer is pleased to announce the addition of Thien-Vu
Ngo and Dean J. Pucci as associates
to the firm. Ms. Ngo's main areas of practice include transactional
and municipal law while Mr. Pucci will handle police litigation and
city prosecution.
MARTIN
J. MAYER TO SPEAK AT CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEFS CONFERENCE
Martin J. Mayer
serves as General Counsel to the California State Sheriffs Association,
the California Police Chiefs Association, and the California Peace Officers
Association and has done so for approximately 20 years.
Mr. Mayer will
present a summary of the most recent and crucial court decisions impacting
upon law enforcement at this years Cal Chiefs Conference in Oakland.
The issues discussed will include rights of individual officers, criminal
prosecution for knowingly filing a false complaint against an officer,
use of deadly and less than lethal force, and pursuits, to name a few.
The conference
will take place February 9-13 in Oakland, California.
*********
| 
