City and County of San Francisco v. Superior Court

The City and County of San Francisco (City) seeks a writ of mandate to compel respondent superior court to grant its motion for summary judgment. City is defendant in a personal injury action brought by real party in interest Bridget Colbert, who was stabbed while riding on a City-operated bus and now sues City for failing to prevent the incident. City contends it is not liable to real party because the stabbing was sudden and without warning. We agree and issue the writ.

Despite real party’s contention to the contrary, the facts are not in dispute. Real party boarded a City bus shortly after 10 p.m. She sat a few seats behind the driver. At a subsequent bus stop a man boarded the bus and took a seat somewhere behind real party. This man has only been described as a Black male wearing “dirty” or “soiled” clothing. There was nothing about his behavior or his appearance to raise any suspicion; neither real party nor the driver noticed anything unusual about him. Shortly thereafter the driver glanced in his mirror and saw the man open a small pocket knife. According to the driver’s declaration in support of City’s motion for summary judgment, the man suddenly — less than…