A.G. v. Cnty. of L. A.

239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 162, 28 Cal. App. 5th 373
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedOctober 1, 2018
DocketB282023
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 162 (A.G. v. Cnty. of L. A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A.G. v. Cnty. of L. A., 239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 162, 28 Cal. App. 5th 373 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

ZELON, Acting P. J.

*374After an incident with sheriff's deputies, Brian Pickett died, leaving his partner, two biological children, and his partner's *375child, A.G., whom Brian had raised and held out as his own child. In the subsequent wrongful death action, the trial court held that A.G. lacked standing to sue, and entered judgment against him. With apologies to Sigmund Freud, biology is not destiny. We reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In a consolidated Fourth Amended Complaint against the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Tamai Gilbert, as guardian ad litem for her children Brian and *164Micah Pickett, and Tamara Ford, as guardian ad litem for her grandson A.G., sued defendants for assault, battery, negligence, wrongful death, and violation of civil rights. They alleged that on January 6, 2015, the decedent, Brian Pickett,1 had an encounter with members of the Sheriff's Department, which led to his death. Tamai Gilbert was Pickett's partner, and the mother of his biological sons, Brian and Micah, as well as the mother of A.G. A.G. sued as Pickett's surviving child.

Defendants moved for summary judgment and summary adjudication on December 1, 2016, asserting, as relevant to this appeal, that A.G. was not a surviving child of Pickett, and had no standing to sue. Citing Tamai's deposition testimony that Pickett was not A.G.'s biological father, defendants argued that A.G. had no standing under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60, governing wrongful death actions.

Opposing the motion, A.G. argued that Pickett, having accepted A.G. into his home and held him out as his natural son, was A.G.'s presumed father pursuant to Family Code section 7611, subdivision (d). This argument was supported by Tamara Ford's declaration that Pickett held A.G. out, and treated him as, his son. In addition, Tamai testified in her deposition that Pickett had agreed, from the time he had met Tamai, when A.G. was one year old, to be his father; A.G.'s father was not involved in A.G.'s life at any time prior to Pickett's death. Accordingly, A.G. argued he had standing to sue. In reply, defendants argued that the Family Code had no application to the determination of standing. Instead, they argued that the relevant statute was Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 subdivision (c), which required the minor to have resided in the decedent's household for 180 days prior to the death.

The trial court heard the matter on February 15, 2017, and granted summary judgment against A.G. The trial court concluded that the presumption of parentage established in Family Code section 7611 has no application *376to standing. The trial court subsequently denied A.G.'s motion for a new trial and entered judgment. A.G. appealed.

DISCUSSION

A. We Review The Grant Of Summary Judgment De Novo

"A motion for summary judgment is properly granted only when 'all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' [Citation.] We review a grant of summary judgment de novo and decide independently whether the facts not subject to triable dispute warrant judgment for the moving party as a matter of law. [Citation.]" ( Chavez v. Glock, Inc. (2012) 207 Cal.App.4th 1283, 1301, 144 Cal.Rptr.3d 326.) "It is well established that, as the party moving for summary judgment, Respondents had the 'initial burden of production to make a prima facie showing of the nonexistence of any triable issue of material fact.' ( Aguilar, supra , 25 Cal.4th at p. 850 [107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493].) 'A prima facie showing is one that is sufficient to support the position of the party in question.' ( Id . at p. 851 [107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493].) To satisfy its initial burden, a defendant must 'present evidence and not simply point out that the plaintiff does not possess, and cannot reasonably obtain, *165needed evidence.' ( Id . at p. 854 [107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493], fn.omitted.) The defendant may satisfy this requirement in one of two ways: First, it may 'present evidence that conclusively negates an element of the plaintiff's cause of action.' ( Id . at p. 855 [107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493].) In the alternative, defendant 'may ... present evidence that the plaintiff does not possess, and cannot reasonably obtain, needed evidence-as through admissions by the plaintiff following extensive discovery to the effect that he has discovered nothing.' " ( Ibid . ) ( Hypertouch, Inc. v. ValueClick, Inc. (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 805, 838, 123 Cal.Rptr.3d 8.)

In this case, the trial court ruled, as a matter of law, that the presumption of parentage was irrelevant to the determination of A.G.'s standing to sue for wrongful death. Because the defendants failed to meet their burden on summary judgment, we reverse.

B. Defendants' Arguments On Appeal

On appeal, defendants make several arguments. First, they assert that because A.G. is not the biological child of Pickett, he does not meet the requirements under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60, subdivision (a) as a child of the decedent. This argument was the basis for their motion. They then argue that, as an unadopted stepchild, A.G. also lacks standing under Probate Code section 6450.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 162, 28 Cal. App. 5th 373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ag-v-cnty-of-l-a-calctapp5d-2018.