Schuyler

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

I. BACKGROUND

This matter comes before the Court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff has filed an opposition to defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Defendant the United States of America has filed a reply.

Plaintiff, Joshua Schuyler, filed this action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). 28 U.S.C. §§ 1246 (b), 2671 et seq. During an early morning (approximately 2:30 a.m.) brawl among several young people returning from Tijuana on or about July 7, 1994, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, plaintiff was thrown over the guardrail of a three-story pedestrian ramp. The parties differ as to whether plaintiff was the initial aggressor, a point which is not relevant to this ease. Nonetheless, plaintiff and his “drinking buddies” scuffled with another group of young people returning from Tijuana and plaintiff was thrown over the guardrail, falling 30 feet to the ground below. At his deposition, plaintiff testified that he went over the guardrail two to three feet from the ramp’s west wall. See Exhibit 3 of Defendant’s Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for…