In Armendariz v. Mohave County, 1 CA-CV 15-0571, 2017 WL 587089 (App. Feb. 14, 2017), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that Mohave County was entitled to legislative and administrative immunity for its decision to not install a traffic control device at an intersection with a private easement.  As part […]

In Mullenix v. Luna, No. 14-1143 (U.S. Nov. 9, 2015), the Supreme Court afforded qualified immunity to an officer accused of excessive force when he shot and killed a fleeing, intoxicated suspect from an overpass.  The suspect led officers on an 18-minute chase at speeds of up to 110 miles-per-hour, and […]

In Gallagher v. Tucson Unified School District, No. 2 CA-CV 2014-0124, 2015 WL 2221657 (Ariz. App. May 12, 2015), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that TUSD was entitled to absolute immunity under A.R.S. § 12-820.05.  The court held that the requested damages (“anxiety, reasonable expenses for medical intervention or other […]

In City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan, 135 S. Ct. 1765 (2015), the United States Supreme Court held that two police officers’ re-entry into the residence of an armed, mentally ill suspect (who had threatened officers moments before with a knife) to quickly subdue her—instead of attempting to accommodate […]

In Guerra v. State, 348 P.3d 423 (Ariz. 2015), the Arizona Supreme Court held that law enforcement officers do not have a duty of care to accurately deliver next-of-kin (“NOK”) notifications to a decedent’s family members. The Court concluded that officers do not assume a duty of care to an accident […]

In Glazer v. State, 237 Ariz. 160 (2015), the Arizona Supreme Court held that A.R.S. § 12-820.03—an affirmative defense against claims for injuries arising out of an original plan or design for the construction of a roadway so long as the original plan or design complied with generally accepted standards—is available […]

In Castro v. County of Los Angeles, 785 F.3d 336 (9th Cir. 2015), the Ninth Circuit held that the deliberate-indifference standard for constitutional violations and the reckless-indifference standard for punitive damages in § 1983 cases are synonymous. Thus, juries “have the discretion to impose punitive damages if they believe further punishment […]

In Yousefian v. City of Glendale, 779 F.3d 1010 (9th Cir. 2015), the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of several police officers who were sued for false arrest and malicious prosecution. The court held there was probable cause to arrest and prosecute the suspect, notwithstanding the fact that the […]

In Sharkey v. O’Neal, 778 F.3d 767 (9th Cir. 2015), the Ninth Circuit held that the statute of limitations for claims under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (public services disability discrimination), which does not contain an express statute of limitations, is the forum state’s statute of limitations […]