Arista v. Cnty. of Riverside

240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 125, 29 Cal. App. 5th 271
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedNovember 20, 2018
DocketE068432
StatusPublished

This text of 240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 125 (Arista v. Cnty. of Riverside) 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
Arista v. Cnty. of Riverside, 240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 125, 29 Cal. App. 5th 271 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MILLER, J. -

In a second amended complaint (SAC), Christyna Arista (Wife), Andres Marin-Arista, Jazmyn Nicole Marin-Arista, Christal Marin-Arista, and Julyan Marin-Arista sued the County of Riverside (the County) for (1) wrongful death, (2) negligence, (3) negligent infliction of emotional distress, and (4) a deprivation of constitutional rights (42 U.S.C. § 1983). The trial court sustained the County's demurrer to the SAC without leave to amend. Wife, Andres, Jazmyn, Christal, and Julyan (collectively, the Family) contend the trial court erred. We reverse in part, and affirm in part.

*274FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. SAC

The facts in this part are taken from the SAC. In 2014, Wife was married to Andres Marin (the victim). Wife and the victim shared four children: Andres, Jazmyn, Christal, and Julyan. On March 1, 2014, at approximately 6:30 a.m., the victim left the Family's residence in Corona to ride his mountain bike up Santiago Peak in the Cleveland National Forest. The bike ride would be approximately 55 miles. The victim was scheduled to arrive back home at 2:00 p.m.

Temperatures at 6:30 a.m., in Corona, were in the 50s or 60s and there was occasional light rain during the day. The victim was dressed in knee-length bike shorts, bike gloves, a bicycle jersey, calf-length socks, shoes, and a helmet. The victim carried $10, water, snacks, and his cell phone. At 3:00 p.m., the victim had not returned home. Wife called the victim's cell phone and sent text messages with no answer until 5:14 p.m. At that time, Wife spoke to the victim. The victim told Wife that he had fallen and was injured. The victim sounded disoriented and confused, but said that prior to falling he had reached the summit of Santiago Peak and was returning home. At 5:32 p.m., Wife called the Trabuco Ranger Station, but no one answered. At 5:34 p.m., Wife called the Cleveland National Forest Service, but could not reach a human: At 5:36 p.m., Wife called 911 and spoke to an operator, who instructed Wife to wait at home for law enforcement.

At 6:30 p.m., Corona police arrived at the Family's residence. Wife told the police about the victim's injury, the victim's planned route, the amount of clothing he was wearing, and she provided photographs of the victim. At 8:00 p.m., Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Zaborowski arrived at the Family's residence. Wife gave Deputy Zaborowski the same information that she had given to the Corona police officer. Deputy Zaborowski remained at the Family's residence for most of the evening. Deputy Zaborowski had Verizon ping the victim's cell phone, which revealed the victim's phone was near Santiago Peak. Verizon employees were working on a cell tower near Santiago Peak; the Riverside County Sheriff's Department (Sheriff's Department) asked the Verizon employees "to be vigilant for [the victim's] location."

Riverside County Sheriff's Lieutenant Zachary Hall was the "Incident Commander" for the case. Lieutenant Hall was not trained in search and rescue techniques. At 10:00 p.m., Lieutenant Hall or Riverside County Sheriff's Detective Holder arrived at the Family's residence and said "he was *275the Lieutenant `in charge.'"1 Lieutenant Hall spoke to Deputy Zaborowski outside. Lieutenant Hall said the victim was likely having an affair, implying that the victim was not missing but was with his girlfriend. Lieutenant Hall questioned why law enforcement needed to be involved. Lieutenant Hall reentered the house and told Wife that the Sheriff's Department's search and rescue team would start searching for the victim in the morning.

Wife knew that temperatures on Santiago Peak would be in the 30s or 40s overnight. Wife asked Lieutenant Hall, "`[W]hat are the chances he dies of hypothermia?'" Lieutenant Hall replied that the victim "was `a grown man' and that `he can survive the night.' When further questioned about why the department was not searching given the dangers of the cold, [Lieutenant Hall] replied that `if it was a child, [he] would send a helicopter out there right now.'"

On March 1, 2014, the Sheriff's Department had an "Off-Highway Vehicle Enforcement" team (ROVE) that was equipped with all-terrain vehicles. The vehicles were equipped with lights and could operate at night. The ROVE team was not dispatched to search for the victim on the night of March 1.

After the Sheriff's Department said it would delay its search until the morning of March 2, Wife organized six family members to search for the victim. The Sheriff's Department advised Wife "not to initiate any search on her own, and was told that the [the Sheriff's Department] would take care of that task." Nevertheless, at 3:45 a.m. on March 2, Wife and her family members began searching on foot for the victim.

Pat Killam was a member of the "Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit" (RMRU), a group of volunteer deputies trained to respond to wilderness emergencies. Killam was "contacted by another member of RMRU" after Lieutenant Hall decided to wait until the morning to search for the victim. Early in the morning on March 2, Killam awoke to search for the victim. During midmorning, before deputies began searching the roads and trails, Killam, using a motorcycle, located the victim's body on Santiago Trail near Santiago Peak. Santiago Trail was a maintained fire access road that accommodates four-wheel drive or off-road vehicles. The victim had died of hypothermia.

The Family's first cause of action was for wrongful death. Sheriff's Department personnel told Wife "they would `handle' the search, and requested that [Wife] not initiate any search on her own." Thus, the County *276assumed the responsibility of searching for the victim and rescuing him. Wife relied on the Sheriff's Department's search efforts because the Sheriff's Department "took control of the situation." The Sheriff's Department delayed the search in bad faith based upon its conclusion that the victim was not missing, but was having an affair. The victim "could have been rescued" if rescuers "used four wheel drive cars/trucks or other off road vehicles to access [the victim] who was lying on a maintained fire access road."

The Family's second cause of action was for negligence, and it included allegations similar to the wrongful death cause of action. The Family's third cause of action was for negligent infliction of emotional distress, and it included allegations similar to the wrongful death cause of action.

The Family's fourth cause of action was for a deprivation of constitutional rights. (42 U.S.C. § 1983.) The victim had a right to life and liberty under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
240 Cal. Rptr. 3d 125, 29 Cal. App. 5th 271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arista-v-cnty-of-riverside-calctapp5d-2018.