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California Insanity and why they are going broke!

County pays $225,000 to settle lawsuit over deputy shooting pit bull puppy

San Diego County has agreed to pay a San Marcos family $225,000 to settle a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed after a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed their pit bull puppy nearly three years ago.

The settlement came after lawyers for Roger Bush, Jason Bush and Pietra McCotter won a pretrial ruling in October. U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz said the case could go to trial because the deputies, Gerardo Perez and Kevin Price, had violated the constitutional rights of the homeowners by entering the family’s property without a warrant.

The shooting occurred on May 26, 2014, when the deputies responded to a call from a neighbor that the family’s dogs were loose, according to court records. The property address was not given but was described as a rural area of San Marcos. A case summary in the court files says this is what unfolded:

When the deputies arrived, they spoke to the neighbor and then went to the Bush home. The property is surrounded by a chain-link fence with “No Trespassing” and “Beware of Dog” signs prominently visible.

After announcing their presence and shaking the fence, the deputies entered a closed but unlocked front gate and walked down a long driveway to the front of the home. Perez then knocked on a front window and again called out.

At that point, from another side of the house, Roger Bush opened a sliding-glass door, and three pit bull puppies ran outside. One puppy, named Odin, was shot twice and died.

Perez said later the dog was running at him and he feared the puppy would attack him so he fired. However, Roger Bush said the dog was not running at Perez but was running to the side of him, essentially perpendicular to the deputy.

In his October ruling, the judge said the dog had two bullet holes in his side. That is “consistent” with Bush’s version of events, he wrote.

The judge also faulted the deputies for not planning other, non-lethal ways of subduing the animals when they were on clear notice from the neighbor’s complaint and there was a “Beware of Dog” sign.

“This was really an unnecessary shooting,” said Devin Burstein, a lawyer for the family. “These sheriff’s deputies could have done things differently.”

Mike Workman, the county’s communications director, said officials concluded settling the suit was the best course of action.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-dog-killing-20170124-story.html

SD high school student forced to pee in bucket wins $1.25M lawsuit

The San Diego Unified School District has been ordered to pay more than $1.25 million in damages to a former student forced to urinate in a bucket after her request for a bathroom break was denied.

A Superior Court jury on Wednesday decided in favor of the former Patrick Henry High School student who sued the district and a teacher over the 2012 incident she said fueled gossip, lewd texts, depression and a suicide attempt.

San Diego Unified denied her initial claim seeking $25,000.

“Something like this never should have happened to a 14-year-old girl just entering high school,” said attorney Brian Watkins. “She took the stand and told a really embarrassing story, she told the jury how this has affected her life and how she is still working through issues.”

On Feb. 22, 2012, the student told a classmate in a 25-minute advisory class she urgently needed to use the bathroom but was afraid the teacher wouldn’t give her a pass. Believing it was against school rules, teacher Gonja Wolf rejected the student’s request and instead showed her to a supply room adjacent to the classroom where she could privately urinate in a bucket and dump the contents in a sink.

The school district called the verdict disappointing.

“We, of course, are disappointed and will be considering in the next few weeks whether or not to appeal,” said General Counsel Andra Donovan in a statement released by district spokeswoman Shari Winet.

Lawyers for San Diego Unified and the teacher said in court Wolf never intended to embarrass the girl, rather the teacher thought she had found a solution to what she mistakenly thought was a strict no-bathroom-break policy.

In a “lapse of judgment, she thought that was a good idea,” Katheryn Martin, an attorney representing the district, said in opening statements.

New to the campus at the time, 25-minute advisory classes were intended to provide study time and build relationships among students. Although teachers were told the short periods would be undermined by frequent bathroom breaks, the school expected them to use common sense, San Diego Unified attorneys told the jury and Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal during the trial.

But Wolf, an art teacher, took a strict interpretation of the rule, and had recently purchased a bucket to serve as a make-shift toilet in the case of a security lock-down. The teacher had even urinated in the bucket a couple of times herself while working late at school, her attorney, Fern Steiner, told the jury.

Once the Patrick Henry administration found out about the incident, the popular teacher with no record of discipline was put on paid administrative leave and never returned to campus.

The school also made clear to teachers that students should not be denied bathroom trips. Administrators apologized to the girl and her mother and extended offers of assistance, attorneys told the court.

But once word of the incident got out, the girl was mercilessly teased and forced to transfer schools twice, attorney Watkins said. Widespread media coverage of the incident — that included television news crews showing up at her home and school — scared the girl, who ultimately attempted suicide, he said.

The jury awarded the girl $1.25 million in damages and $41,000 to cover past and current medical expenses. The girl, who is now 19, went on to earn a diploma from a charter school. She has a job, and is still in therapy due to post-traumatic stress caused by the incident, Watkins said.

“She is very happy she was able to have her voice heard,” Watkins said of his client. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and this was one of the more peculiar cases I’ve had. The jury was fair and reasonable.”

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-bucket-verdict-20170125-story.html

California Taxpayers Pay Out Millions to Settle Civil Rights Lawsuits Involving CHP Officers

More than $25 Million in tax dollars go to pay off civil rights suits since 2006
California taxpayers have had to foot the bill for dozens of court settlements and judgments involving California Highway Patrol Officers after interactions with the public that resulted in civil rights lawsuits being filed.
NBC Bay Area’s investigation of state records found that the majority of the officers involved in those lawsuits remain on the force a year or more after the cases are settled. Stephen Stock reports. (Published Tuesday, May 24, 2016)

Source: California Taxpayers Pay Out Millions to Settle Civil Rights Lawsuits Involving CHP Officers | NBC Bay Area http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/California-Taxpayers-Payout-Millions-to-Settle-Civil-Rights-Lawsuits-Involving-CHP-Officers-380596111.html#ixzz4WuKYSFMm