In a ruling involving a tragedy that stunned the country, a Santa Clara County judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the City of Gilroy and other defendants filed by victims in the 2019 mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, according to city officials and lawyers involved in the case.
Just months after the horrific events of July 28, 2019 left three people dead and 17 injured, several victims, led by Wendy Towner, who was shot in the leg after diverting the shooter’s attention from nearby children, joined together in a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Gilroy, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association, and First Alarm Security & Patrol, Inc.
The suit alleged that the city had “dangerous condition(s) of public property” and cited First Alarm and the Garlic Festival Foundation for negligence and “premises liability,” meaning they failed to protect visitors of the Garlic festival from dangerous conditions.
The city welcomed the decision by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Frederick Chung, who heard oral arguments in the case this week after the defendants filed a motion to have the lawsuit decided without a jury.
The decision “helps the (City) continue on the healing process” and “verifies how the city has felt since the beginning,” said Gilroy City Administrator Jimmy Forbis, who was notified Thursday of the decision. “As tragic as the day was, ourselves and the Garlic Festival and the security company did the very best we could,” noting that first responders were on the scene of the shooting within a minute.
First Alarm Security and the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
But Randall Scarlett – a lawyer for Scarlett Law Group, who represents the victims – said that he plans to “promptly” appeal the judge’s decision, calling it “devastating” to his clients. “Not allowing the case to go to a jury … it’s a drastic measure,” he said, adding that he has sufficient evidence to prove his clients’ case before a jury. “This was an ill-thought-out decision, and the public policy implications of this are huge.”
“We will appeal, and I’m confident of the outcome of that appeal,” he said. “It’s not over.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com