SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – A lawsuit over the police shooting death of a mentally ill woman wandering the streets with a shotgun and a bottle of wine has been delivered a serious blow.
San Francisco federal judge Vince Chhabria dismissed the case, brought on behalf of the estate of Sandra Lee Harmon, on Oct. 26. The only saving grace for the plaintiff is he is allowing 21 days for the complaint to be amended.
Chhabria needed only three pages to reveal his reasons for dismissing the case against San Mateo County and several individual defendants. Harmon’s daughter, Sarah Gatliff, filed the lawsuit earlier this year as a so-called successor in interest to Harmon’s estate.
Harmon was shot and killed in Half Moon Bay in May 2020 by San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies.
“The claims Gatliff brings as Harmon’s successor in interest are dismissed for lack of standing,” Chhabria wrote. “California law requires Gatliff to file an affidavit or declaration containing specific facts to bring an action on behalf of her mother’s estate as her successor in interest.”
Gatliff’s declaration was dated two days before she was purportedly assigned those rights from her husband.
According to the suit, in May 2020 Harmon was walking the streets of Half Moon Bay with a shotgun and a bottle of wine. She was "warning people to be safe" in the "impending race war," and a concerned bystander called 911.
Harmon then entered an RV in a restaurant parking lot, which defendant Deputy Dominguez approached and ordered Harmon to exit, the suit says. After she complied while holding her shotgun, Dominguez allegedly fired three rounds at Harmon, who then began firing her shotgun, the suit says.
A shootout occurred in which the plaintiff says Harmon was shot multiple times while her back was to the deputies. When Harmon reached for her shotgun, she was shot six more times, the suit says.
District attorney defendants are included in the suit for allegedly mishandling body camera footage and refusing to subpoena the company that records the footage. Claims against many individuals were thrown out because Gatliff conceded she failed to assert any causes of action against them.
The county says Gatliff has failed to plead any facts that show deputies acted inappropriately.
Chhabria also said she hasn’t alleged facts to support claims over her own 14th Amendment rights – “A biological connection alone is not sufficient, nor are allegations of a close relationship or affection.”
And her wrongful death claims were not properly pled, but Chhabria said even if they were, he would not exercise jurisdiction over them because they arise under state law.
California law requires all heirs to be joined in wrongful death actions. Harmon’s widower is a known heir but is not a party to the lawsuit.
“It is possible that his joinder is not feasible and the litigation may proceed anyway because he did not administratively exhaust his claims,” Chhabria wrote.