Rendak

This wrongful death action was tried against defendant state only. Nonsuit was granted at the close of plaintiffs’ case and plaintiffs’ appeal from the ensuing judgment.

The state owns and operates Brighton Beach Park in Santa Cruz County. The park includes some 64 acres. Administrative offices, staff residence, a parking area and other incidental facilities are located on a plateau well above the beach. Below, along the ocean front, is an area of sandy beach which is the principal recreational attraction. West of the sandy beach, but still within state ownership, is a finger of land which runs beneath a steep cliff rising some 72 feet above the water. At high tide, this finger is wholly submerged, but at lower tides becomes a narrow strip of wet land.

At its easterly end, where the beach area ends and this narrow finger begins, is a sign reading “Submerged at High Tide,” and another reading “Slide Area.” The cliff and the narrow finger below it extend to the westerly limit of the state park. Along the sandy beach to the east, the only improvements are rest rooms and some “fire rings”—circles of concrete set in the sand for building of fires. A rest room appears to be…

I dissent.

I agree with the majority of this court that the sufficiency of the evidence of either actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition of the cliff is an issue for the jury.

I disagree only with the holding that as a matter of law the evidence conclusively disclosed that Rendak’s death was caused by a slide of land in its natural condition on an unimproved area of the park so as to come within the immunity provisions of Government Code section 831.2.

It is to be noted at the outset that when reviewing a judgment after nonsuit the appellate court “ ‘must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellant, must disregard all inconsistencies and draw only inferences from the evidence which can reasonably be drawn which are favorable to the appellant.’ ” (Sperling v. Hatch, 10 Cal.App.3d 54, 57 [ 88 Cal.Rptr. 704 ]; Golceff v. Sugarman, 36 Cal.2d 152, 153 [ 222 P.2d 665 ].)

Government Code section 831.2 provides: “Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by a natural condition of any unimproved public property, including but not limited to any natural condition of any lake, stream, bay, river or beach ” (Italics…

This wrongful death action was tried against defendant state only. Nonsuit was granted at the close of plaintiffs' case and plaintiffs' appeal from the ensuing judgment.

The state owns and operates Brighton Beach Park in Santa Cruz County. The park includes some 64 acres. Administrative offices, staff residence, a parking area and other incidental facilities are located on a plateau well above the beach. Below, along the ocean front, is an area of sandy beach which is the principal recreational attraction. West of the sandy beach, but still within state ownership, is a finger of land which runs beneath a steep cliff rising some 72 feet above the water. At high tide, this finger is wholly submerged, but at lower tides becomes a narrow strip of wet land.

At its easterly end, where the beach area ends and this narrow finger begins, is a sign reading "Submerged at High Tide," and another reading "Slide Area." The cliff and the narrow finger below it extend to the westerly limit of the state park. Along the sandy beach to the east, the only improvements are rest rooms and some "fire rings" — circles of concrete set in the sand for building of fires. A rest room…