People v. Superior Court (Wilson)

This matter is before us on the State of California’s (hereafter the State) petition for writ of mandate and/or prohibition after respondent superior court denied the State’s motion for summary judgment. Real party in interest Wilson has sued the State for failing to suspend or revoke the driver’s license of a diabetic person who ran head-on into the car driven by Wilson.

We conclude that real party has failed to establish the existence of a mandatory duty on the State to revoke the driver’s license of the third party. This hiatus preserves the State’s discretionary licensing immunity under Government Code section 818.4. We reverse and order entry of judgment for the State.

Facts, Procedural History, and Contentions

The relevant facts are undisputed. In October 1989, Ray Campbell suffered a diabetic reaction and ran his car into an abutment. California Highway Patrol Officer Bravo was dispatched to the accident scene and wrote an accident report that stated: “This accident was caused by [Campbell] suffering a diabetic reaction which caused him to travel off the r[oa]d.” Although authorized to do so by the Vehicle Code and directed to do so by a Highway Patrol general…