Julio Ceasar Barajas, a minor, et al. v. County of Los Angeles, et al.
Published: Sep. 14, 1996 | Result Date: Aug. 7, 1996 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: CV95565DT – $0
Judge
Court
USDC Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Norman Tabachnick
(medical)
Ronald N. Kornblum
(medical)
Defendant
Patricia Riegers
(medical)
John Uphold
(medical)
Robert E. Litman
(medical)
Barbara Luna
(technical)
Facts
On Aug. 8, 1994, decedent Julio Barajas Grajeda, a 32-year-old man, entered the Men's Central Jail in the defendant county of Los Angeles. He was fairly soon afterwards put into a medical observation unit (Ward 7100) and diagnosed with post alcoholic syndrome and was determined to be in need of mental observation. On Aug. 12, 1994, at 4:30 a.m. the decedent was seen with his sheet tied suspiciously to his bed. The defendant county's sheriff's deputies, Tuppen, Romash and Robinson, removed that sheet and two nurses claimed to have interviewed the decedent. Afterwards the decedent received another sheet. In the meanwhile no referral was made to the jail's psychiatric staff for any form of evaluation. The nurse did not chart the suspicious activities of the decedent at 4:30 a.m. No one at the jail could explain how the decedent reacquired a sheet. The decedent was discovered to have hung himself on rounds at approximately 9:15 p.m. The jail's medical staff, defendants Julian Wallace, M.D., and nurses Natividad and Kaewimonrat, tried to perform CPR, but did not intubate the decedent or use cardio-resuscitative drugs. In addition to the federal civil rights violations of the Office of the Sheriff (which the plaintiffs claimed caused their decedent's death), they also claimed that malpractice by the defendant nurses and Dr. Wallace was a concurrent cause of the death. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant city's paramedic who responded to the CPR site erred in the performance of his duties. The decedent was transported by paramedic ambulance to the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center where advanced life support was performed and a heartbeat obtained. The life support systems were removed three days later. The defendant city and paramedic settled out for $15,000 on the first day of trial. The plaintiffs, the decedent's wife, children and parents, brought this action against the defendants based on violation of civil rights, medical malpractice and negligence theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $550,000. The defendant county made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $100,000.
Damages
The plaintiffs claimed $_________ in damages.
Injuries
Death of father, husband and son.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately one year and six months after the case was filed. SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE: A settlement conference was held before trial before Judge Tevrisian. It did not resolve the matter.
Deliberation
3+ days
Poll
8-0
Length
11 days
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