FAMILY CAN'T SUE FOR BIAS REST OF SUIT IN TEEN'S DEATH CAN BE AMENDED.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer VAN NUYS - A judge ruled Wednesday that the mother of the 13-year-old Juniper Intermediate School student killed in a fistfight with a classmate cannot sue the Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. for racial discrimination. Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael Farrell For the Australian cricketer, see . For the American screen actor, see . Michael Farrell (born 1944) is an Irish civil rights activist and former leader of People's Democracy. also ruled that other portions of Mary Corson's $10 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the district were insufficient but allowed the family's attorney to file an amended complaint amended complaint n. what results when the party suing (plaintiff or petitioner) changes the complaint he/she has filed. It must be in writing, and can be done before the complaint is served on any defendant, by agreement between the parties (usually their lawyers), . ``This will be the fourth time (the Corson family attorney) is trying to place a viable complaint on file,'' said Martin Carpenter, an attorney for the school district. In other developments, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. on Wednesday handed over investigators' reports regarding the Nov. 19, 1999, fight between Stephan Corson and the other boy. Farrell had previously granted the school district's motion requesting copies of the investigation records. Melanie Lomax, attorney for the Corson family, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. The case was transferred to the Van Nuys court after Lomax argued that Antelope Valley jurors might be tainted by pretrial publicity The right of a criminal defendant to receive a fair trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The right of the press (print and electronic media) to publish information about the defendant and the alleged criminal acts is guaranteed by the First Amendment. . Stephan Corson's death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, which said the boy died from damage to his spinal cord spinal cord, the part of the nervous system occupying the hollow interior (vertebral canal) of the series of vertebrae that form the spinal column, technically known as the vertebral column. caused either by a punch thrown by the classmate or from hitting the ground with his chin. Prosecutors declined last April to file charges against the 14-year-old classmate, saying he acted in self-defense in what was termed an ``excusable homicide EXCUSABLE HOMICIDE, crim. law. The killing of a human being, when the party killing is not altogether free from blame, but the necessity which renders it excusable, may be said to be partly induce by his own act. 1 East, P. C. 220. .'' In their report, prosecutors said 11 witnesses said Stephan started the fight, and that a teacher told investigators that after she separated the boys, Stephan reached around her and punched the other boy, who then struck back. Stephan fell, hitting his head on a concrete surface, the report said. Other witnesses and the boy's family have disputed that account. In Wednesday's action, Farrell granted a demurrer demurrer In law, a plea in response to an allegation that admits its truth but also asserts that it is not sufficient as a cause of action. In the U.S., demurrers are no longer used in federal procedure (having been replaced by motions to dismiss or motions for more definite filed by the school district that objected to the lawsuit and said the plaintiff failed to state a legal or factual basis. ``The court sustained all of the demurrers, three of which were sustained without leave to amend, those causes of action being the ones that deal with allegations that there was racial tension between the boys, racial slurs used by the other boy, or discrimination on the part of the school district,'' Carpenter said. ``The other four causes of action were sustained with leave to amend. Those deal with general allegations of negligence against the school district,'' Carpenter said. |
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