Founding Partner Eugene P. Ramirez Earns Defense Verdict in Wrongful Death Suit

Manning & Kass Founding Partner Eugene P. Ramirez just concluded a 4-week Superior Court civil trial representing the City of Huntington Beach in a wrongful death suit brought after an officer-involved shooting that occurred in 2017. Two officers responded to a call of a man chasing people and trying to hit them in a sports park crowded with adults and children. The man was armed with a broken bottle and a sharpened tree branch. It was learned later that he was high on methamphetamine. After chasing the man and ordering him to stop and put down the weapons, he failed to comply and threatened a woman and her young son nearby. The officers discharged their firearms and the suspect went down and died at the scene.

Originally, the $20 million lawsuit was dismissed in Federal Court after a successful motion for summary judgment was filed by Manning & Kass. However, the case was appealed to the 9th Circuit where the summary judgment was affirmed as to all claims, except for the state law causes of action for wrongful death caused by battery and negligence. The plaintiff re-filed the case in Orange County Superior Court.

Mr. Ramirez and his co-counsel, Huntington Beach City Attorney, Michael E. Gates, were up against a well-known plaintiff's attorney, considered one of the best in the country trying cases against police officers.

It was a difficult case for the jurors who initially hung in favor of the plaintiff, 7-5. However, after several clarification questions on the use of force, trajectory, and the readback of certain testimony, the jury reconsidered and eventually returned with a defense verdict, finding in favor of the involved officers, 9-3.