In Silva v. Langford, ordered published June 9, 2022, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 7 affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court's dismissal of a lawsuit after demurrer. The operative First Amended Complaint alleged that in the early morning hours an Uber driver pulled into the Number One lane on the 101 Freeway and demanded that his passengers get out of the vehicle. While one of the passengers was attempting to cross the lanes of traffic to get to safety, the defendant CHP officer struck and killed him. The CHP officer was allegedly driving at an excessive speed without activating lights and sirens. The original complaint alleged that the officer was responding to a call. These allegations were omitted from the FAC. The plaintiff sued the officer and CHP for wrongful death, alleging the CHP was liable under Government Code section 815.2(a) for the officer's negligence, and also liable under Vehicle Code section 17001 for the officer's violation of the basic speed law. The officer and CHP demurred on the ground that liability was barred by Government Code section 821.6, because the officer was allegedly responding to a call, the first step in a police investigation. CHP contended that under Government Code section 815.2(b), it was entitled to the benefit of the officer's immunity. The trial court sustained the demurrer on the ground that section 821.6 immunized both the officer and the CHP.
The appellate court noted that the issue of the scope of section 821.6, and whether it applied to acts in the course of a police investigation or merely malicious prosecution actions, was currently pending before the California Supreme Court and was undecided. It nevertheless ruled that the officer's actions were independently immunized under Vehicle Code section 17004, which immunizes public employees from civil damages resulting from the operation in the line of duty of an emergency vehicle when responding to an emergency call. Although the court sustained the officer's demurrer on a different basis, the ruling must be upheld if correct on any ground. But the appellate court reversed demurrer against the CHP. Vehicle Code section 17001 provides an independent ground for public entity liability for negligent or wrongful operation of a motor vehicle by a public employee, which is not based on vicarious liability under Government Code section 815.2(a). The liability is therefore not subject to Government Code section 815.2(b), which is an exception to vicarious liability of public entities for their employees' acts under section 815.2(a).
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