Hanson v. Snohomish County et al

Filing 83

MINUTE ORDER denying Defendants' 64 Motion for Summary Judgment. The parties should be prepared to discuss the possibility of resolving the case by mediation at the Status Conference set for Thursday, October 12, 2017, at 9:00 AM. Authorized by Judge Thomas S. Zilly.(SWT)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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JULIE ANN HANSON, individually
and as personal representative of the
estate of Marilyn Mowan, deceased,

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Plaintiff,
C16-930-TSZ

v.
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, a municipal
corporation, TY TRENARY, KAITLIN
GEARY, JEFFREY LANGSAM,
JULIE ROUNTREE, and I-CHEN LIU,

MINUTE ORDER

Defendants.
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The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable
Thomas S. Zilly, United States District Judge:

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(1)
Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, docket no. 64, is DENIED.
Plaintiff’s right to sue under Section 1983 for a failure to protect claim under the
Fourteenth Amendment was clearly established in September 2014. Castro v. County of
Los Angeles, 833 F.3d 1060 (9th Cir. 2016). There are material issues of facts as to
whether a reasonable officer in the circumstances would have appreciated the nature and
degree of risk involved with plaintiff and would have failed to take reasonable measures
to protect plaintiff. The individual defendants, Langsam, Liu, Rountree, and Geary are
therefore not entitled to qualified immunity. For the same reasons, the Court denies the
motion by defendant Sheriff Trenary and Snohomish County. There are also material
issues of fact as to whether the County is liable in negligence for improper training or
improper procedures even if the other individual defendants are exonerated. See Fairley
v. Luman, 281 F.3d 913, 917 (9th Cir. 2002).

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MINUTE ORDER - 1

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(2)
The parties should be prepared to discuss the possibility of resolving the
case by mediation at the Status Conference set for Thursday, October 12, 2017, at 9:00
2 AM.
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(3)
record.

The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Minute Order to all counsel of

Dated this 18th day of September, 2017.

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William M. McCool
Clerk

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s/Karen Dews
Deputy Clerk

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MINUTE ORDER - 2