Tribulski

Plaintiff appeals from an adverse judgment in an action for false imprisonment. 1 We affirm.

*830 In the light of the jury verdicts, the sole issue on this appeal is whether the county may be held liable for false imprisonment by reason of the failure of the sheriff’s department more promptly to advise the deputy district attorney in charge of plaintiff’s criminal case of the existence of a favorable blood test. We agree with the trial court that there existed no duty on the sheriff or his deputies to act in a manner other than the one here followed and, therefore, that the county is not liable for any delay in the ultimate release of plaintiff.

The facts, so far as are material to this appeal, are as follows; Plaintiff was stopped, early in the morning of May 2, 1972, while driving on a freeway, because deputy sheriffs observed him driving too slowly and weaving. He refused to take the field sobriety tests for balance and coordination, but did elect to take the blood test provided for in section 13353 of the Vehicle Code. Blood for that test was drawn at Doctor’s Hospital prior to his delivery to the police station, where he was booked for drunk driving.

The…

Although I agree with the majority opinion that law enforcement officers are under no duty to notify the prosecutor immediately every time they learn of “some piece of evidence that might be favorable to a person under arrest” the situation presented here is quite another matter. The arrestee in this case chose to submit to a blood test at the time of his arrest on May 2d and a sample of his blood was taken for this purpose within 40 minutes after he was first stopped by the police. Thereafter the sample was transmitted to the criminalist laboratory of the sheriff’s office, where it was analyzed on May 5th. The blood alcohol level was found to be .00 and the criminalist accordingly noted his opinion that the arrestee was not under the influence of alcohol at the time the specimen was taken, the only possible conclusion in view of the test results. In addition, although the complaint filed against Tribulski charged him only with driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, the blood sample was also tested for a barbituric acid derivative, with a negative finding.

Under these circumstances there can be no doubt that the sheriff had notice of a fact sufficient to put him as a…

Plaintiff appeals from an adverse judgment in an action for false imprisonment. [1] We affirm.

(1a) In the light of the jury verdicts, the sole issue on this appeal is whether the county may be held liable for false imprisonment by reason of the failure of the sheriff's department more promptly to advise the deputy district attorney in charge of plaintiff's criminal case of the existence of a favorable blood test. We agree with the trial court that there existed no duty on the sheriff or his deputies to act in a manner other than the one here followed and, therefore, that the county is not liable for any delay in the ultimate release of plaintiff.

The facts, so far as are material to this appeal, are as follows: Plaintiff was stopped, early in the morning of May 2, 1972, while driving on a freeway, because deputy sheriffs observed him driving too slowly and weaving. He refused to take the field sobriety tests for balance and coordination, but did elect to take the blood test provided for in section 13353 of the Vehicle Code. Blood for that test was drawn at Doctor's Hospital prior to his delivery to the police station, where he was booked for drunk…