COURTHOUSE KILLING SUIT THROWN OUT.Byline: Janet Gilmore Daily News Staff Writer Relatives of a Woodland Hills woman who was fatally fa·tal·ly adv. 1. So as to cause death; mortally: fatally injured. 2. So as to result in disaster or ruin. 3. According to the decree of fate; inevitably. Adv. 1. shot in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County civil courthouse in 1995 lost in their bid Wednesday to hold the county responsible for her death. Eileen Zelig's estate sued the county, claiming that the lack of courthouse security contributed to her death. On Wednesday, Superior Court Commissioner Emilie Elias threw out the wrongful-death claim. Elias agreed with county attorneys, whose arguments included that the state law protects the county from such lawsuits. Eileen Zelig was in the downtown courthouse for a divorce-related hearing when her former husband, Dr. Harry Zelig, killed her in the hallway as their 6-year-old daughter watched. Harry Zelig was convicted of first-degree murder last month and faces 25 years to life in prison. The ruling Wednesday does not end the estate's claim against him. Melissa Widdifield, the attorney representing Eileen Zelig's estate, contends that the county was significantly responsible for Zelig's death for a number of reasons including its failure to install metal detectors or take other safety precautions precautions Infectious disease The constellation of activities intended to minimize exposure to an infectious agent; precautions imply that the isolation of an infected Pt is optional, but not mandatory. . The North Hill Street courthouse has signs warning that firearms This is an extensive list of small arms — pistol, machine gun, grenade launcher, anti-tank rifle — that includes variants. : Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
Widdifield said she plans to appeal the ruling. ``We feel very strongly that the county is responsible here,'' she said. County attorney Dennis Gonzales could not be reached for comment. But in court papers, he said the county had no special legal duty to protect Eileen Zelig while she was in the courthouse - especially because she expressed no fears for her safety the day she was killed. A judge may have been aware of Harry Zelig's previous threatening letters (Law) letters containing threats, especially those designed to extort money, or to obtain other property, by menaces; blackmailing letters. See also: Threatening or phone calls to his former wife, Gonzales conceded con·cede v. con·ced·ed, con·ced·ing, con·cedes v.tr. 1. To acknowledge, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper; admit. See Synonyms at acknowledge. 2. . But, he wrote, ``A couple of phone calls over a period of three years does not make the county the grand protector protector /pro·tec·tor/ (-tek´ter) a substance in a catalyst that prolongs the rate of activity in the latter. of hundreds of thousands of individuals who come into family court and express that they fear their spouse one year and say nothing the next.'' Further, Gonzales argued that that Eileen Zelig was in jeopardy jeopardy, in law, condition of a person charged with a crime and thus in danger of punishment. At common law a defendant could be exposed to jeopardy for the same offense only once; exposing a person twice is known as double jeopardy. regardless of whether she was in the courthouse or on the street. ``The county had no knowledge of any danger and did not create the domestic problems which had already existed between Zelig and Eileen.'' |
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