SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - San Diego has defeated a wrongful death lawsuit that sought to hold it and its police officers liable for the murder of a woman allegedly carried out by a stalker.
Federal judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro on June 24 tossed the case brought by the Estate of Nahal Connie Dadkhah, allowing it leave to try an amended complaint. The case alleged San Diego police left what would become a murder scene because they did not have a warrant.
Dadkhah was killed in June 2022 allegedly by Parrish Chambers, who faces first-degree murder charges and has pleaded not guilty. Known as Connie, Dadkhah was a 44-year-old medical research assistant who recorded the attack.
Dadkhah's estate sued in 2023, and San Diego moved to dismiss the case on Feb. 29.
"Today more than ever, officers are required to make tough decisions in the face of civil liability and even criminal prosecution," the motion says.
Judge Montenegro agreed with San Diego's arguments in their entirety, dismissing all claims, including so-called Monell arguments that San Diego deprived Dadkhah of her federal rights.
The plaintiffs were required to prove a constitutional violation to show municipal liability.
"Affirmative action is required," Montenegro wrote. "Inaction is insufficient."
Dadkhah's neighbors called the SDPD to complain of an agitated and aggressive man. Cops knocked on Dadkhah's door and used a microphone to try to contact anyone inside but received no response. Phone calls went unanswered.
The lawsuit claims it took officers almost two hours after receiving the neighbors' calls to respond to the scene.
"After 15 minutes, based on the information they knew at the time, officers left the scene," San Diego had argued.
"In making that decision, officers had to weigh competing interests of violating Decedent's Fourth Amendment rights by making a warrantless entry and the potential for a violent confrontation with a mentally ill man."
None of those failures to act are affirmative actions that placed Dadkhah in more danger than she otherwise faced, Montenegro wrote. The plaintiffs claimed neighbors did not intervene because cops told them help was on the way.
"It is also highly speculative that unspecified neighbors or civilians could have successfully intervened to prevent harm to Connie," Montenegro wrote. "Notably, there are no allegations concerning the timing of Connie's death and thus whether any actions by police officers or neighbors could have done anything to help protect Connie from Chambers."
Montenegro also found:
-Deliberate indifference claims would fail because cops upgraded their call to high-priority and dispatched more officers;
-There was no official policy or custom that led to the delay to enter Dadkhah's residence;
-Plaintiffs failed to show San Diego failed to train its officers to respond to such a situation; and
-Negligence claims fail because it wasn't shown officers ever made a specific promise to Dadkhah as to a specific level of protection or lulled her into a false sense of security.