OTHER TRIAL ISSUES (4, 5 & 7)
The following are the issues to be decided by this court or tried to
the jury::
-
Has the District wrongfully destroyed evidenceof
Andrew S’ prior conduct and its knowledge of that conduct? [This issue
is the subject of a separate pre-trial motion and brief, and will not be
further addressed here.] (The District abused the
discovery process and wrongfully withheld production of a pertinent District
Policy and Procedure, relating to the creation and retention of student
discipline records, # 3600 and #3600P)
-
Did Andrew S. commit the intentional tort of assault
of Jared High on May 6, 1998?
C. S. and J. R. H. are liable for the intentional conduct
of Andrew S.
Under the doctrine of negligent supervision,
parents are liable for the intentional torts of their minor children when:
(1) the child has a dangerous proclivity; (2) the parents know of the child's
dangerous proclivity; and (3) they fail to exercise reasonable care in
controlling that proclivity.
Barrett v. Pacheco, 62 Wn. App. 717,
815 P.2d 834 (1991); Norton v. Payne, 154 Wash. 241, 244-45, 281
P. 991 (1929); Eldredge v. Kamp Kachess Youth Servs., Inc., 90 Wn.2d
402, 408, 583 P.2d 626 (1978);
Carey v. Reeve, 56 Wn. App. 18, 22,
781 P.2d 904 (1989).
This liability is not limited to the statutory liability of a
parent for a child’s wilful torts, where the parents themselves are found
negligent. RCW 4.24.190, Action against parent for
willful injury to person or property by minor--Monetary limitation--Common
law liability preserved provides:
The parent or parents of any minor child under the age of eighteen
years who is living with the parent or parents and who shall willfully
or maliciously destroy or deface property, real or personal or mixed, or
who shall willfully and maliciously inflict personal injury on another
person, shall be liable to the owner of such property or to the person
injured in a civil action at law for damages in an amount not to exceed
five thousand dollars. This section shall in no way limit the
amount of recovery against the parent or parents for their own common law
negligence.
(Emphasis supplied.)
-
Was the negligence and intentional conduct of the defendants a proximate
cause of Jared High’s development of a major depressive psychological condition
which gave rise to an irresistible impulse to kill himself?
CONCLUSION
Plaintiffs will show that the defendant District and defendants S. and
H. were negligent in their supervision and discipline of Andrew S., and
that the District negligently investigated the assault and wrongfully punished
equally the perpetrator and the victim. It is clear that Andrew S.
assaulted Jared High. The evidence will indicate that these physical
and psychological traumas caused this vulnerable child to develop a major
depressive condition which gave rise to an irresistible impulse to kill
himself.
His parents are entitled to recover damages against the defendants for
the expenses associated with Jared’s injury treatment and death, and their
loss of the love and companionship of their son, their grief and mental
anguish and the loss of their relationship with Jared High.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 22nd day of January, 2003.
RICHTER-WIMBERLEY, P.S.
By: Jay E. Leipham, WSBA # 4961
(Attorney for Brenda High)
HEAR JARED'S VOICE - PLAY
- From an interview with Pasco School District investagators concerning
the assault. This is a recording of a recording and it isn't real
clear, but worth the download effort. Jared had a real mellow voice.
Note: If you have a slow load wav, wait for it to load entirely and then
play again from the start. 5 minutes long
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