Appellate Law Team Delivers Another Win in First Amendment Case

On May 12, 2025, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, affirmed in full the dismissal of all claims in its published opinion for Animal Protection & Rescue League, Inc. v. County of Riverside. San Diego Partner Yury A. Kolesnikov and Los Angeles Partner Andrea K. Kornblau took lead on the case, securing an important victory for Manning Kass’ clients, the County of Riverside and Sheriff’s Deputy Rudy Leso. 

The case arose out of a protest that took place on June 2, 2018, near a pet store at the Temecula Promenade Mall. On that day, a group of animal rights protesters occupied, without permission, a table at the mall that was reserved and paid for by another organization. Mall officials informed the protesters that the table was previously reserved by another group and that there was a different table available for them. Thereafter, Deputy Leso arrived and spoke with the animal rights protesters and politely asked them to vacate the table and re-locate to the other table that had been provided for them. Although most protesters immediately agreed to move, Plaintiff Leslie Davies insisted that Deputy Leso write her a ticket. Deputy Leso refused to write her a ticket, stating that there was no issue because the protesters had already agreed to move. Ms. Davies and the other protesters vacated the table and no one was arrested. More than a year later, Ms. Davies and Animal Protection & Rescue League filed the action against the County and Deputy Leso, alleging that the deputy’s actions infringed on Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights and violated various statutory laws, including the Ralphs Act (prohibiting any violent act or threat of violence against a person or their property because of a protected characteristic) and the Bane Act (prohibiting the interference or attempted interference with a person’s constitutional rights by means of threat, intimidation, or coercion). 

The trial court dismissed all of Plaintiffs’ claims on motions to dismiss and summary judgment. Plaintiffs appealed, but the Court of Appeal affirmed in full. The Court of Appeal agreed that the trial court properly dismissed Plaintiffs’ negligence claim because Plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege that Deputy Leso owed any duty to Plaintiffs or that he breached any duty. The Court of Appeal also upheld the trial court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims for violation of the Ralphs Act and the Bane Act, concluding that Deputy Leso’s statement that Ms. Davies may be arrested if she refused to leave did not constitute an expression of intent to injure her and did not itself threaten any violence. Finally, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ declaratory relief claim, concluding that there was no actual controversy requiring declaratory relief.

Read the Court’s full opinion on Westlaw (subscription required). 

About Our Team

Yury A. Kolesnikov is a member of the Appellate Law (Strategy, Writs, & Appeals) team and has substantial appellate experience in both federal and state courts. He has been the principal brief writer in more than 30 appeals, including before the Ninth Circuit, California Supreme Court, Delaware Supreme Court, and Missouri Supreme Court, and has argued 18 appeals, including in the Ninth Circuit (including before the court sitting en banc), Delaware Supreme Court, and multiple state intermediate appellate courts.

Andrea. K. Kornblau is a member of the Governmental Entity Liability team. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Kornblau clerked for the State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General in the Civil Law Division, Business and Tax Section. She also held a paralegal position with a large global law firm, where she played an integral role on a wide range of complex and high-stakes cases in federal and state courts, including in the areas of toxic tort, land use, securities fraud, and insurance coverage. Ms. Kornblau held positions with two additional AV-rated defense firms, focusing on litigation practice groups, where she developed excellent trial preparation and motion writing skills.