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FIRM WINS SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN WRONGFUL DEATH CASE!
The Firm recently won a Summary Judgment Motion on behalf of a mobile-home park owner client in a highly contentious wrongful death and personal injury action.
In this case, a shooting occurred at a mobile-home park in Orange County. The plaintiff had been a tenant at the park for a number of years. She lived next to another tenant, Mr. Martin, who had also lived in the park for a number of years and who had been described by many individuals as a somewhat "cantankerous old man."
Shortly before the shooting, a dispute developed between members of the plaintiff's family (including her brother and his two teenage sons), and Mr. and Mrs. Martin. The dispute related to a screen door at the plaintiff's home that was banging in the wind and bothering Mr. and Ms. Martin.
Shortly before the shooting, Mr. Martin left a threatening note at the plaintiff's home. The plaintiff complained to the police and the police responded, speaking to members of both households. The police concluded things were under control, and they left.
Two days later, Mr. Martin once again became upset with his neighbors. The plaintiff, sensing something was going to happen, called the police, however, within minutes, Mr. Martin told his wife to go to a neighbor's house, grabbed his rifle and pistol, and went next door to the plaintiff's mobile home. It appeared as if he was looking for the plaintiff's brother who had managed to escape out of the home. When Mr. Martin couldn't find the brother, he began shooting at the plaintiff and her mother. He killed the plaintiff's mother and shot the plaintiff in the arm and jaw. He also shot two other neighbors in another mobile home.
The police arrived and, after an exchange of gunfire, Mr. Martin killed himself.
The plaintiff brought a personal injury and wrongful death action against Mrs. Martin and the owner of the park.
In her allegations against the Firm's client, the owner of the park, plaintiff claimed that the management at the park was aware of Mr. Martin's dangerous propensity but took no action to protect the other park residents. Plaintiff asserted that Mr. Martin had threatened others at the park, including the park manager, and further asserted that some of these threats, including one threat to the park manager, had been made with a gun.
The co-defendant (Mrs. Martin) also asserted that park management should not have allowed the plaintiff's brother and his two teenage sons to live at the park because it is a "senior citizen park," and the brother and his two sons were bothering other tenants, including Mr. and Mrs. Martin.
After extensive discovery and investigation, attorneys Paul Wayne and Kevin Schettig of the Firm's Real Estate Law Practice Group filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on behalf of the park owner client. In this Motion, the Firm asserted that the park owner had no liability as the plaintiff had not established any causation between any action or inaction by the owner and the manager of the park, and the actions of Mr. Martin. The Firm argued that the park manager had testified she did not feel threatened by Mr. Martin, and that the opposing parties had not established any duty to evict Mr. Martin or the plaintiff's brother and his sons, and no causation was established between any duty to evict and the shooting.
The Court apparently agreed with the Firm's arguments and granted the Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of the Firm's park owner client. In its ruling, the Court also noted that special protections have been instituted by the Legislature for the benefit of resident owners and tenants of mobile home parks, making it more difficult to evict them.
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Related Attorney(s):
Paul V. Wayne
Related Practice Area(s):
Real Estate and Construction Law
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LOS ANGELES ORANGE COUNTY VENTURA/OXNARD CENTRAL COAST
BAY AREA SACRAMENTO LAS VEGAS RENO PHOENIX
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