Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

California’s Largest Police Misconduct Lawsuit Payoffs

December 22, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

California’s police misconduct lawsuit payoffs are high- profile and expensive. For example, Iraq War vet, Scott Olsen, was protesting in Oakland California in 2011 when a beanbag round shot by police struck him in the head. He received irreparable brain damage. Oakland settled the ensuing police civil lawsuit for $4.5 million.

In 2013, Los Angeles settled for $4.2 million when officers shot two women delivering newspapers by mistake. They were involved in an early morning manhunt for a violent former cop, Christopher Dorner. They mistook the women’s car for the suspects and opened fire. While the department first described the incident as a tragic mistake, it was later found the eight officers involved violated policy during the incident. Discipline for the officers involved in the case was handled within the department.

The movie Fruitvale Station was inspired by the shooting death of Oscar Grant III. He was killed by gunshot from police while handcuffing him in a subway in the Bay area. The officer responsible claimed he pulled his weapon on mistake. He meant to pull his taser. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. His young daughter and mother received settlements over one million dollars each.

California Forces Auto Insurers to Adjust Rates After Minority Neighborhoods Affected by Miscalculations

December 17, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

Nationwide Insurance and USAA are required by California to adjust rates for auto insurance. The request was caused by a report form ProPublica and Consumer Reports. According to that report, several minority neighborhoods paid more for their car insurance than those in predominately white neighborhoods with the same risk factors.

Insurance regulators confirmed price differences are linked to incorrect usage of a California law provision. The provision allows insurance companies to put several neighborhoods in the same area into one rating territory. The two insurers affected, Nationwide and USAA, are numbered in the top ten largest providers by market share in the United States. The proposed adjustments to rates will greatly reduce racial inequalities in the two providers pricing.

The analysis from Consumer Reports showed USAA pricing was 18% higher on the average. Nationwide had a 14% higher rate. These rates were higher in economically challenged, minority areas than in neighborhoods with more white people but the same high accident costs. According to the California Department of Insurance, it is impossible to quantify how adjustments will affect insured’s premiums. Revisions are just too complex. Making it even harder, these revisions are happening at the same time as a general rate increase. Insurers are now required to show more justification for their measure of risk in underprivileged, minority neighborhoods. California designates these areas as underserved in the auto coverage industry.

Suing For Excessive Force

December 12, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

As citizens, we depend on police and law enforcement to protect our rights and personal safety. We expect them to treat us fairly and with respect as human beings even when we are accused or suspected of wrongdoing. Officers of the law are held to a high standard of behavior as they are entrusted with a wide birth of authority in the commission of their duties to the public. When police break their agreement to act in a responsible manner and use excessive force in a situation, they damage the public connection, endanger the lives and well-being of their victim and themselves, and cost the county money in administrative and legal proceedings.

Objectively Reasonable Physical Force

Police and law enforcement officers of all type are trained to use a reasonable amount of physical force to subdue and apprehend a subject. Graham V. Connor (490 U.S. 386), a 1989 Supreme Court case, allotted one of the milestone decisions pertaining to law enforcement use of force. It created a national standard still used today. SCOTUS clearly stated the use of force by law enforcement on private citizens will be evaluated as a seizure under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This includes use of force that is deadly or nondeadly. Every arrest, course of arrest, investigatory stop and any seizure of a private citizen are analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness standard as opposed to a substantive due process standard. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects American citizens against unreasonable search and seizure by the U.S. government and its agents. One of the important precedent set forth by Graham V. Connor is the understanding that police make the decision to use force and how much to use in a split-second during a rapidly evolving and potentially life-threatening situation.

Can you sue for an STD in California?

December 5, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) can be life-changing. When you find out you have contracted a disease from someone you had sexual contact with, it affects you in several different ways. You may be sick, develop symptoms and feel the physical repercussions which may even include death. There are also deep emotional issues that come with a sexually contracted disease. Sex is an emotional action and it can be very traumatic to think the person you love has given you a disease. In the instance of noncommittal sex, it can be just as emotionally traumatic. These particular types of diseases have serious and long-lasting effects on the human body. They can cause death, disfigurement, sterilization, and life-long pain.

In California, there are circumstances where you can sue the person who infected you with a sexually transmitted disease. There are even rare cases in which you can sue and not have been infected. A threat of exposure can be grounds for a civil lawsuit. There are several different California legal theories that you may be able to rely on, if you are considering suing someone in relation to a sexually transmitted disease. The two most common used in these suits is civil battery and negligence. The theory you choose for you suit will depend on personal circumstances.

Civil Battery and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Car Insurance Life Hacks for Californians

December 3, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

California says you must carry auto insurance before putting your car on the road. It is a legal requirement of all California drivers. Besides fulfilling the legal requirement to drive, auto insurance policies also protect the car and driver from a variety of threats and risk. Even if it wasn’t required by law, auto insurance is a good idea in California. The hard part is figuring out which policy is right for you and exactly much coverage you need in your particular situation. To make it just a little harder, factor in the ever-rising cost of insurance premiums in the state. It is natural instinct for most people to simply seek out the cheapest policy they can find and legally get away with but that is a recipe for disaster. To get the most out of your policy, since you have to have it anyway, you must search for the policy with the most coverage for the lowest price. Simple as it is, there are a few tried and true auto insurance life hacks that will have your hair whipping in the California breeze with a lot more money in your pocket.

Go Big or Go Home

In the world of auto insurance, it is usually best to opt in for the bigger deductible. The most obvious reason to do this is it lowers your premiums considerably. The down side is you pay more if something does happen to your car. However, having a lower premium equals quite a bit of savings in the long run. It is important to remember to keep enough cash aside to meet the deductible at any moment. You never know when a piano will fall out of a top floor window and smash your car to smithereens.

Wreck a Rental Car in California? Here is What You Need to Know.

December 1, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

Drivers rent cars for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes your personal vehicle is broken down, or perhaps you’re a tourist and need a car for sightseeing once you deboard the plane. Maybe you want to be incognito or just want to drive something new. Whatever the reason, you are bound to have some questions about how to proceed if you should experience an accident while driving a rental car in the sunshine state. Below you will find all the information to ensure everyone is safe, your claims are filed correctly and maybe even get some help from your credit card company.

First Things First -Scene of the Accident

911- If anyone is hurt, it is important to call 911 for rescuers immediately. If there are no injuries, you’ll need a police officer to come and make a report. Regardless of who is at fault, authorities and medical rescue should be called immediately after the accident. Even if no other car is involved in the accident, or someone hit your rental car when it was parked and took off, you will still need a police report to show the insurance company and the folks at the rental car office.

New Tesla Auto Insurance Could Disrupt Industry

November 28, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

A new auto insurance policy from Tesla was released in October 2017 without much fanfare among North American car owners. The new policy, called InsureMyTesla, is a venture in part with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Earlier partnerships have been launched in Canada, Hong Kong and Australia. The automaker hopes the policy will give its vehicle owners deeply discounted rates tailored specifically to the highly advanced safety features of Tesla autos. The autopilot system is unique in its field and highly-touted.

InsureMyTesla is a revolutionary type of coverage that takes into account that autonomous vehicles will make insurance coverage obsolete eventually. Self-driving cars are designed to be able to avoid every type of accident and they are coming closer and closer to that goal every year. Until the time that only self-driving cars populate the roads, it seems that all of the advanced safety features of Tesla cars would reduce insurance rates. Some owners, however, have reported rate hikes in their premiums for their Tesla cars.

A recent example is that of AAA. They raised rates on Tesla automobiles in June, citing information which showed the Model X and Model S had higher than usual claim frequencies and higher costs of claims compared to others in the same class. In turn, Tesla called AAA’s analysis flawed and unrealistic. They noted that the comparisons were not among cars of the same caliber.

Can You Sue the Police Department in California?

November 25, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

Anger, frustration and even rage and fury at the police by the average American citizen is at an all-time high. The use of excessive force and discriminatory practices against private citizens is no longer being tolerated. Though few officers, compared to the amount of police officers nationwide, behave in this manner it’s effects are widespread and damaging to the entire country. The most recent effect is the influx of private citizens pursuing legal proceedings against law enforcement for unlawful searches, seizures, arrests, detainments and abuse by police. While it is within a citizen’s rights to sue the police department, it must be a careful considered decision.

Why Sue the Police Department

People in this country are just as tired of frivolous lawsuits as they are police misconduct. The days of suing for any reason are over. A plaintiff must have a valid reason to sue police. A clear and obvious denial or infraction of a citizen’s civil rights must be present. It is also important to sue police if the dangers the plaintiff experienced by the police could possibly happen to another citizen. A civil duty is present to step up and stop a policeman who is violating procedure to the point of endangering the public he is worn to protect. Egregious errors must be prosecuted but frivolous lawsuits are not tolerated.

Lawmakers and Activists Claim People Have a Right to Sue for Elderly Abuse in Nursing Homes

November 21, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

Tax reform, healthcare and the debt ceiling have been at the top of the agenda for Congress. However, consumer activists and Democratic lawmakers are serving notice of their intent to continue protecting the right of people to sue nursing homes for abuse and neglect of the elderly patients in their care since the Trump administration plans to rollback legal rights for people to sue nursing homes Obama put in place.

Under the Obama administration’s plan, nursing homes which receive federal funding, which is most, were prohibited from requiring all disputes, including neglect and abuse, to be addresses through a mandatory arbitration as opposed to the legal system.

During the August recess, 31 senators wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provisions in their contracts for mandatory arbitrations. Lawmakers stressed that forced arbitration stacks the deck against the residents and their loved ones. Residents face a wide array of potentially harmful activity. Physical abuse and neglect, as well as sexual abuse and wrongful death at the hands of nursing home staff are top among the atrocities residents can possibly face.

When Does a Dog Bite Become Criminal in California?

November 19, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

A dog bite is serious business in California. Dog bites can inflict permanent scarring and disfigurement. In extreme cases, they can lead to infection, amputation and severe emotional trauma. Most often dog bite cases are handled in civil court, although there are cases that warrant criminal status.

The State Must File Criminal Charges

When a person is injured by a dog, the police should be called immediately. It is an important step to notify authorities of a possible vicious dog on the loose. It also gives you the documentation you need in order to file a civil lawsuit against the dog’s owner. There is a limited amount of time to file a dog bite civil lawsuit. That time limit is called the statute of limitations. State officials determine if criminal charges can be filed in a civil litigation.