In July 2023, the California Supreme Court in Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks, Inc.[1] answered two certified questions from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Supreme Court concluded: (1) if an employee contracts COVID-19 at the workplace and brings the virus home to a spouse, the derivative-injury rule of California’s workers’ compensation law does not…

In July 2023, the California Court of Appeal held that warrantless tows of legally parked cars with unpaid parking tickets that present no threat to public safety and the efficient movement of vehicular traffic are not permissible.  Coalition on Homelessness v. City & Cnty. of S.F. (2023) 2023 Cal. App. LEXIS 557 (7-21-23).  However, this…

In United States v. Estrella,[1] the Ninth Circuit held that a law enforcement officer must have probable cause to believe that a person is on active parole before conducting a suspicionless search or seizure pursuant to a parole condition, but that officer need not have ongoing day-by-day awareness of person’s parole status. Background In 2015,…

In Hopson v. Alexander,[1] the Ninth Circuit held that police detectives were entitled to qualified immunity in an action alleging excessive force under 42 U.S.C. section 1983.  The detectives had approached a parked vehicle with guns pointed and forcibly removed the occupants without first identifying themselves as law enforcement officers because of their suspicion of…

In Hill v. City of Fountain Valley,[1] the Ninth Circuit concluded that although officers likely did not have probable cause to arrest a plaintiff for obstruction, qualified immunity shielded the officers from liability because there was no clearly established law at the time forbidding their actions, given the plaintiff’s evasive behavior that appeared to interfere…

On June 22, 2023, the California Supreme Court issued a published opinion in Leon v. County of Riverside, Supreme Court Case No. S269672, which greatly limits Government Code section 821.6 immunity for the instituting of prosecuting a judicial proceeding.  This case will have an important impact on the liability exposure concerning law enforcement officers or…

In Estate of Strickland v. Nevada Cnty.,[1] the Ninth Circuit concluded that it was objectively reasonable for officers to believe a black toy airsoft replica rifle pointed in their direction by a person known to have mental health issues presented an immediate threat justifying the use of deadly force. Background In December 2019, Gabriel Strickland…

In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that plaintiffs adequately stated their 42 U.S.C. section 1983 claims against a police sergeant under the state-created danger exception.  In Murguia v. Langdon,[1] the majority found that the plaintiffs adequately alleged a police sergeant knew that a mother’s mental health crisis posed a serious…