Schaeffler

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

A. The accident Around 3 a.m. on March 7, 2019, Bradley Charles St. John (St. John) was driving his BMW motorcycle on Avenue T in an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County on the outskirts of Littlerock, California. He struck a 300-pound pig that had wandered onto the road. St. John was then struck by another motorist. St. John died from his injuries.

2 B. The property At the time of the accident, Gary and Judy Schaeffler (the Schaefflers) owned a just-over-two-acre parcel of land near the site of the accident (the property). A chain-link fence ran along the perimeter of the property, with a solitary gate to provide access. Although the Schaefflers were the sole owners of the property since 2015, they never occupied it. Instead, since 2014 or 2015, Judy’s brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Suzanne Mountjoy (the Mountjoys), along with their children and a grandchild, had lived on the property under an oral lease.1 Under the lease, the only payments the Mountjoys had to make were $275 per month to the Schaefflers (to cover the property taxes) and to pay the utilities for the property. In exchange, the Mountjoys were tasked…