LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court has reversed a decision that granted immunity to the California Highway Patrol after the parents of a man who was kicked out of an Uber then struck and killed by an officer sued.
The Second Appellate District ruled in May that Marakkalage Tharal and Shirin Ramesha Silva can keep pursuing their case against the CHP, which alleges it is liable for their son’s death under Vehicle Code section 17001.
That law says a public entity is liable for injury or death caused by a negligent or wrongful act in the operation of a motor vehicle by one of its employees acting within the scope of their employment.
“(I)t was CHP’s burden in its demurrer to establish its affirmative defense of governmental immunity,” the Second District’s ruling says. “Yet CHP’s only argument in its demurrer with respect to Vehicle Code section 17001 was that it was shielded by the investigatory immunity applicable to (the officer, Richard Langford)… and public entity immunity under Government Code section 815.2, subdivision (b).”
That law does not immunize CHP from the Silvas’ 17001 claims, the court said. The case will continue on their cause of action for public entity liability for injuries caused by its employees.
Around 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2019, Danuka Silva’s Uber driver stopped on Highway 101 and demanded he exit the vehicle. The driver refused to move the vehicle to the shoulder or an exit ramp.
Silva attempted to cross the eastbound lanes of traffic to get to safety but he was struck by Langford’s car. Langford “was driving at an excessive speed without activating his patrol car’s lights and sirens at the time he struck Danuka,” the ruling says.
Silva was 30 years old. Media reports say he was fighting with another passenger before he was ordered out of the car.