Ruelas

I. INTRODUCTION

At relevant times from 2002 through 2004, plaintiffs Guillermo Ruelas, Oscar

Miranda, Alejandro Espinoza, and Martin Mendoza were wards at the Heman G. Stark

Youth Correctional Facility (Stark). Stark is part of the Department of Juvenile Justice,

formerly the California Youth Authority (CYA).1 While they were wards, defendant

James Shelby, a Youth Correctional Counselor (YCC) at Stark, committed various sexual

acts with them, for which plaintiffs sued Shelby and his superiors, defendants Jerry

Harper and Xavier Ruiz.

Defendants all appeal from a judgment in favor of Ruelas, Miranda, and Espinoza

in their action under title 42 United States Code section 1983 (section 1983); Shelby

appeals from a judgment in favor of Mendoza in his action for state law claims of

For consistency with the parties’ designation and with the record below, we will use the term CYA throughout this opinion.

2 negligence and violation of Civil Code section 52.4; and Ruiz appeals from a judgment in

favor of Mendoza in his action under title 42 United States Code section 1983.

Defendants all contend the trial court erred by:

(1) Failing to dismiss Mendoza’s action for failure…