Alcazar v. L. A. Unified Sch. Dist.

239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 863, 29 Cal. App. 5th 86
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedOctober 16, 2018
DocketB281383
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 863 (Alcazar v. L. A. Unified Sch. Dist.) 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
Alcazar v. L. A. Unified Sch. Dist., 239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 863, 29 Cal. App. 5th 86 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Acting P. J.

*865*88Edgar A. Alcazar (Edgar), a minor, allegedly suffered severe and permanent injuries when he fell from the branch of a tree located on the campus of his middle school. By and through his guardian ad litem, Edgar sued the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). A jury found in favor of LAUSD on all of Edgar's claims.

On appeal, Edgar advances two arguments for why he is entitled to a new trial; both arguments relate to the jury selection process, which ultimately involved three venires. First, Edgar argues that the trial court erred when, following the first venire, it refused to allow counsel to make mini-opening statements to the second and third venires and prohibited counsel from referring to the specific facts of the case during the balance of voir dire. Second, Edgar contends that the trial court erred by refusing to remove two jurors for cause.

We are not persuaded by either of Edgar's arguments. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND

On May 7, 2013, shortly after lunch began at Edgar's middle school, the principal received a radio call that "something had happened."

A minute or two after receiving the call, the principal arrived at the scene and found Edgar, who was 13 years old at the time, lying on his back on a pedestrian walkway next to a concrete planter box that held a crepe myrtle *89tree. Lying next to Edgar was a broken branch from that tree. The branch was approximately 2 inches in diameter at its thickest point and approximately six to eight feet long. Prior to the incident, school staff had seen Edgar swinging "like Tarzan" from that very same branch and had warned him not to do so as it was "unsafe."

When the principal found him, Edgar had his eyes open and was conscious, but was saying little. The principal summoned paramedics, who transported Edgar to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a skull fracture and a concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury.

Six months later, in January 2014, Edgar sued LAUSD for negligence and premises liability, alleging that he had "sustained severe and permanent injuries when he climbed and then fell from the subject tree." By the time of trial in November 2016, Edgar asserted three separate claims against LAUSD: negligence; a violation of Education Code section 44807 ; and, pursuant to Government Code section 835, a claim for a dangerous condition on public property.

I. The Jury Selection Process

Initially, the trial court suggested that the parties limit their questioning to 1.5 hours per side. Although LAUSD's counsel was amenable to such a time limit, Edgar's counsel demurred, explaining that, due to the complexity of a personal injury action against a school district, especially one where the alleged special damages exceeded $15 million, he would need more than an hour and a half to examine prospective jurors. The trial court stated that it understood the concerns of Edgar's counsel and did not place any time limits on voir dire.

A. The trial court's limits on voir dire

On November 1, 2016, before the start of voir dire, the parties jointly requested leave to give mini-opening statements to the venire. The trial court acceded to the *866parties' request and limited each side's mini-opening to three minutes.

On November 3, 2016, the first day of voir dire, the trial court began by reading a short, stipulated statement of the case to the prospective jurors setting out the parties' basic contentions.1 Immediately thereafter, the trial court allowed counsel for each party to give a mini-opening statement.

*90In his mini-opening statement, Edgar's counsel, among other things, discussed the following: Edgar's age; his learning disabilities; his reputation as a "class clown"; LAUSD's knowledge that children at Edgar's school, including Edgar, were swinging on tree branches; Edgar's theories of liability: LAUSD's failure to provide a safe environment by not cutting down the branch and by not properly supervising the children; and Edgar's alleged damages, including "millions of dollars" of future medical care.

In his mini-opening statement, LAUSD's counsel discussed, among other things, the following: Edgar's height and weight (five feet 11 inches tall, 176 pounds); his learning disabilities and also his ability to distinguish right from wrong; the school's repeated warnings to Edgar not to swing on tree branches and his refusal to follow those directions; the school's supervision of children during lunch recess; and Edgar's alleged injuries.

At the close of the first day of voir dire, the trial court dismissed for cause three prospective jurors who Edgar claimed would be unfair to his case and dismissed one juror who LAUSD claimed would be unfair to its case. The trial court took under advisement the dismissal of a fifth member of the venire, prospective juror No. 3.

On the morning of November 4, 2016, prospective juror No. 3 asked to speak to the court. After the trial court granted his request, prospective juror No. 3 advised that, based upon the "details" that came out in the parties' "presentation[s]," he could not be fair to Edgar. Based on the information in the parties' mini-opening statements, prospective juror No. 3 concluded, " 'Wow, this kid didn't take responsibility for his own actions. He did something he was told not to do.' " Prospective juror No. 3 stated further that he believed "it was a mistake to put out that much detail about [the case] because it already gave [him] reason to be against [Edgar]." The trial court dismissed prospective juror No. 3 for cause.

In light of the comments made by prospective juror No. 3, and in light of concerns that the trial court had about Edgar's counsel preconditioning the prospective jurors-concerns that the trial court shared with counsel before interviewing prospective juror No. 3-the trial court concluded that the parties would not be allowed to give mini-opening *867statements to any future *91panels of prospective jurors; instead, the court would simply read the parties' agreed-upon statement of the case. In addition, the trial court instructed the parties that during voir dire "[t]here will be no mentioning of facts specific to this case." The court explained that while general questions about school safety, for example, were permissible, questions based on facts specific to the case at bar were not.

To the second venire on November 4 and to the third venire on November 7, the trial court read the parties' joint statement of the case, but did not allow the parties to give mini-opening statements. In addition, on November 4, the trial court, using the language of CACI No. 106, instructed the prospective jurors that statements by counsel, including statements made during voir dire, were not evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 863, 29 Cal. App. 5th 86, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alcazar-v-l-a-unified-sch-dist-calctapp5d-2018.