Tallmadge

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment for defendants after the court granted their motion for summary judgment. We reverse as to defendant County of Los Angeles.

Walter Tallmadge was arrested for the unlawful possession of firearms and the firearms were seized. He was subsequently convicted of unlawful possession of machine guns. He was not convicted of unlawful possession of the remaining firearms. However, both the machine guns and the other guns were destroyed pursuant to court order.

Tallmadge and Charles Weedman, co-owners of the guns, allege the other guns were destroyed without prior notice and contrary to the representations of Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Wells that the other guns would be returned to plaintiffs “without the necessity for plaintiffs to initiate legal process for [their] recovery.” The complaint alleges Wells’s representations concerning the guns were false and “were made with the intent to deceive and mislead plaintiff[s] into not initiating legal process for the return of [the guns].”

The county and Wells based their motion for summary judgment on the ground they were immune from liability under the Tort Claims Act. If the…

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment for defendants after the court granted their motion for summary judgment. We reverse as to defendant County of Los Angeles.

Walter Tallmadge was arrested for the unlawful possession of firearms and the firearms were seized. He was subsequently convicted of unlawful possession of machine guns. He was not convicted of unlawful possession of the remaining firearms. However, both the machine guns and the other guns were destroyed pursuant to court order.

Tallmadge and Charles Weedman, co-owners of the guns, allege the other guns were destroyed without prior notice and contrary to the representations of Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Wells that the other guns would be returned to plaintiffs "without the necessity for plaintiffs to initiate legal process for [their] recovery." The complaint alleges Wells's representations concerning the guns were false and "were made with the intent to deceive and mislead plaintiff[s] into not initiating legal process for the return of [the guns]."

(1a) The county and Wells based their motion for summary judgment on the ground they were immune from liability under the Tort Claims…

I take issue with the conclusion of the majority that summary judgment in favor of defendant County of Los Angeles must be reversed because the complaint states a cause of action for conversion against it the existence of which was not negated by defendants’ papers in support of their motion for summary judgment.

Conversion is any act of dominion wrongfully exerted over another’s personal property in denial of or inconsistent with his rights therein. (Weiss v. Marcus (1975) 51 Cal.App.3d 590, 599 [ 124 Cal.Rptr. 297 ].) The elements of a cause of action for conversion are (1) plaintiff’s ownership or right to possession of the property at the time of the conversion, (2) defendant’s conversion by a wrongful act or disposition of plaintiff’s property rights, and (3) damages. (Chartered Bank of London v. Chrysler Corp. (1981) 115 Cal.App.3d 755, 759-760 [ 171 Cal.Rptr. 748 ].) The majority opinion asserts that the second element was satisfied by the allegation that the county destroyed the property (a veritable arsenal of 55 firearms, guns of all descriptions) without giving plaintiffs the prior notice required by former section 1418, Penal Code, but the complaint simply does not so…