August 6, 2021

Valenzuela v. City of Anaheim (August 3, 2021, No. 20-55372)

The plaintiffs in a civil rights action against the City of Anaheim and two individual police officers prevailed at trial and were awarded a total of $13.2 million in damages, including $3.6 million in “loss of life” damages for the decedent. Generally in civil rights actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, damages are governed by state law unless the state law is inconsistent with the federal statute’s goals. Under California law, noneconomic damages for "pain, suffering or disfigurement" are not recoverable for a decedent. (Cal. Code Civ. Proc., § 377.34.)

The defendant appealed contending that “loss of life” damages for the decedent were barred under California law. A divided panel of the Ninth Circuit disagreed. The majority held that a prior Ninth Circuit opinion, Chaudhry v. City of Los Angeles (9th Cir. 2014) 751 F.3d 1096, controlled. In Chaudhry, the court permitted a civil rights plaintiff to recover for the decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering damages notwithstanding state law to the contrary. The majority held that Chaudhry controlled and permitted the plaintiffs to recover for an additional category of noneconomic damages: the decedent’s “loss of life” damages. Judge Lee dissented on the grounds that he felt Chaudhry was not controlling and, if it was, the Ninth Circuit should revisit the issue by en banc review.

Note: Horvitz & Levy submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.