Silva

Plaintiffs appeal from an order sustaining demurrers to class action allegations in their action against Los Angeles County (County), Sheriff Sherman Block, and certain other members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (the Sheriff’s Department). Plaintiffs allege that the Sheriff’s Department utilized a policy that resulted in suspects being “routinely bitten” by police dogs whether or not they posed a threat of violence. Plaintiffs contend the trial court erred procedurally in failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing before dismissing the class action allegations and substantively in determining that the case is not suitable for class action treatment.

I. Procedural Background

Two representative plaintiffs, Samuel Silva, Jr., and Rudy Becerra, filed the original class action complaint in October 1991. They alleged they represented a class consisting of people wrongly and unjustifiably attacked by police dogs used by the Sheriff’s Department. They also sought to represent a minority subclass comprised of all individuals belonging to racial minorities who had suffered such attacks.

Defendants demurred to the class action allegations of the complaint. They…