March 18, 2022

Doe v. Brightstar Residential Incorporated (Mar. 10, 2022, B304084) __ Cal.App.5th __ [2022 WL 714127]

Plaintiff, an adult with severe autism and other disabilities, lived at defendants’ residence for the disabled. Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by an independent contractor handyman. Plaintiff sued for negligence, negligent supervision, negligent hiring and/or retention, and negligent failure to warn. Plaintiff sought to rely on a police file from the incident to show that the attack was foreseeable, but the trial court excluded the file as inadmissible hearsay and granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Doe appealed.

The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the trial court erroneously excluded the police file. The court ruled that, while police reports are often inadmissible, the hearsay exceptions for admissions by a party opponent and official records allowed the report’s admission into evidence. The court noted that various statements in the police report by the facility’s owner and employees were relevant to the foreseeability of the handyman’s attack.

The Court of Appeal also found that plaintiff and defendant were in a special relationship, and that defendant had a duty to take cost-effective steps to protect residents from foreseeable harm.