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Free Consultation: (800) 426-5546 Tap Here to Call Us Personal Injury Lawyer Blog Free Consultation (916) 444-4444 (800) 426-5546 Serving California, Washington, and Oregon Navigation Home Website About Practice Areas Testimonials In The News Ministry Helping the Poor Contact Us Personal Injury Lawyer Blog California’s Largest Police Misconduct Lawsuit Payoffs December 22, 2018 | by Moseley Collins California’s police misconduct lawsuit payoffs are high- profile and expensive. For example, Iraq War vet, Scott Olsen, was protesting in Oakland California in 2011 when a beanbag round shot by police struck him in the head. He received irreparable brain damage. Oakland settled the ensuing police civil lawsuit for $4.5 million. In 2013, Los Angeles settled for $4.2 million when officers shot two women delivering newspapers by mistake. They were involved in an early morning manhunt for a violent former cop, Christopher Dorner. They mistook the women’s car for the suspects and opened fire. While the department first described the incident as a tragic mistake, it was later found the eight officers involved violated policy during the incident. Discipline for the officers involved in the case was handled within the department. The movie Fruitvale Station was inspired by the shooting death of Oscar Grant III. He was killed by gunshot from police while handcuffing him in a subway in the Bay area. The officer responsible claimed he pulled his weapon on mistake. He meant to pull his taser. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. His young daughter and mother received settlements over one million dollars each. Continue Reading › by Moseley Collins Posted in: Police Misconduct December 22, 2018 Updated: November 9, 2018 9:40 am California Forces Auto Insurers to Adjust Rates After Minority Neighborhoods Affected by Miscalculations December 17, 2018 | by Moseley Collins Nationwide Insurance and USAA are required by California to adjust rates for auto insurance. The request was caused by a report form ProPublica and Consumer Reports. According to that report, several minority neighborhoods paid more for their car insurance than those in predominately white neighborhoods with the same risk factors. Insurance regulators confirmed price differences are linked to incorrect usage of a California law provision. The provision allows insurance companies to put several neighborhoods in the same area into one rating territory. The two insurers affected, Nationwide and USAA, are numbered in the top ten largest providers by market share in the United States. The proposed adjustments to rates will greatly reduce racial inequalities in the two providers pricing. The analysis from Consumer Reports showed USAA pricing was 18% higher on the average. Nationwide had a 14% higher rate. These rates were higher in economically challenged, minority areas than in neighborhoods with more white people but the same high accident costs. According to the California Department of Insurance, it is impossible to quantify how adjustments will affect insured’s premiums. Revisions are just too complex. Making it even harder, these revisions are happening at the same time as a general rate increase. Insurers are now required to show more justification for their measure of risk in underprivileged, minority neighborhoods. California designates these areas as underserved in the auto coverage industry. Continue Reading › by Moseley Collins Posted in: Information , Insurance and News December 17, 2018 Updated: November 9, 2018 9:38 am Suing For Excessive Force December 12, 2018 | by Moseley Collins As citizens, we depend on police and law enforcement to protect our rights and personal safety. We expect them to treat us fairly and with respect as human beings even when we are accused or suspected of wrongdoing. Officers of the law are held to a high standard of behavior as they are entrusted with a wide birth of authority in the commission of their duties to the public. When police break their agreement to act in a responsible manner and use excessive force in a situation, they damage the public connection, endanger the lives and well-being of their victim and themselves, and cost the county money in administrative and legal proceedings. Objectively Reasonable Physical Force Police and law enforcement officers of all type are trained to use a reasonable amount of physical force to subdue and apprehend a subject. Graham V. Connor (490 U.S. 386), a 1989 Supreme Court case, allotted one of the milestone decisions pertaining to law enforcement use of force. It created a national standard still used today. SCOTUS clearly stated the use of force by law enforcement on private citizens will be evaluated as a seizure under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This includes use of force that is deadly or nondeadly. Every arrest, course of arrest, investigatory stop and any seizure of a private citizen are analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness standard as opposed to a substantive due process standard. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects American citizens against unreasonable search and seizure by the U.S. government and its agents. One of the important precedent set forth by Graham V. Connor is the understanding that police make the decision to use force and how much to use in a split-second during a rapidly evolving and potentially life-threatening situation. Continue Reading › by Moseley Collins Posted in: Police Misconduct December 12, 2018 Updated: November 9, 2018 9:37 am Can you sue for an STD in California? December 5, 2018 | by Moseley Collins Sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) can be life-changing. When you find out you have contracted a disease from someone you had sexual contact with, it affects you in several different ways. You may be sick, develop symptoms and feel the physical repercussions which may even include death. There are also deep emotional issues that come with a sexually contracted disease. Sex is an emotional action and it can be very traumatic to think the person you love has given you a disease. In the instance of noncommittal sex, it can be just as emotionally traumatic. These particular types of diseases have serious and long-lasting effects on the human body. They can cause death, disfigurement, sterilization, and life-long pain. In California, there are circumstances where you can sue the person who infected you with a sexually transmitted disease. There are even rare cases in which you can sue and not have been infected. A threat of exposure can be grounds for a civil lawsuit. There are several different California legal theories that you may be able to rely on, if you are considering suing someone in relation to a sexually transmitted disease. The two most common used in these suits is civil battery and negligence. The theory you choose for you suit will depend on personal circumstances. Civil Battery and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Continue Reading › by Moseley Collins Posted in: Negligence and Personal Injury December 5, 2018 Updated: November 9, 2018 9:36 am Car Insurance Life Hacks for Californians December 3, 2018 | by Moseley Collins California says you must carry auto insurance before putting your car on the road. It is a legal requirement of all California drivers. Besides fulfilling the legal requirement to drive, auto insurance policies also protect the car and driver from a variety of threats and risk. Even if it wasn’t required by law, auto insurance is a good idea in California. The hard part is figuring out which policy is right for you and exactly much coverage you need in your particular situation. To make it just a little harder, factor in the ever-rising cost of insurance premiums in the state. It is natural instinct for most people to simply seek out the cheapest policy they can find and legally get away with but that is a recipe for disaster. To get the most out of...