In Victim’s Family v. Property Owner (Bay Area Sup. Ct.) Matthew Davis and Joseph Nicholson reached a confidential multimillion-dollar mediated settlement paid by the owner and manager of an apartment complex which failed to timely repair a safety fence in a high crime area. As a result, an assailant accessed the property and gunned down the decedent in a case of mistaken identity. Left behind were a loving wife and two minor children. Matt and Joe filed suit against the property owner and management company to hold them responsible for this unsolved homicide. The defendant property owners contended that California law does not impose liability for criminal acts of third parties absent a showing of prior similar acts, of which there were none. At mediation, Matt and Joe claimed that the existence of the fence itself demonstrated the foreseeability of criminals entering the property and that the burden of maintaining the fence was miniscule compared to the likely harm that would befall residents without it. They produced a compelling video with interviews of the plaintiffs and the decedent’s friends and family to support the damage claim.
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