Tagliavia

Tagliavia v. County of Los Angeles

Caution
112 Cal. App. 3d 759·169 Cal. Rptr. 467·1980 Cal. App. LEXIS 2502
Court of Appeal of CaliforniaNovember 28, 1980Civ. 58021California1,312 words

Opinion

Opinion

Ryburn, J.

Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of dismissal after defendants’ demurrer was sustained without leave to amend.

Facts

Plaintiff, in his second amended complaint, alleged that while appearing in municipal court he was placed in custody at the direction of a municipal court commissioner, and detained for approximately one day. Plaintiff brought an action for false imprisonment against the commissioner and the County of Los Angeles. Defendants’ demurrer was sustained without leave to amend on the ground of judicial immunity.

The record indicates that the commissioner was acting as a temporary judge at the time plaintiff appeared before him and at the time of the order placing plaintiff in custody.

Issue

The issue presented on appeal is whether a commissioner is a judicial officer and entitled to judicial immunity.

Discussion

The decisions of this state uniformly and consistently grant immunity from civil suit to judges in the exercise of their judicial functions. (Oppenheimer v. Ashburn (1959) 173 Cal.App.2d 624 [ 343 P.2d 931 ].) That is true even if the acts are in excess of the jurisdiction of the judge and are alleged to have been done maliciously and corruptly.…

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