Estate of Blue v. County of Los Angeles

We must decide whether equitable tolling applies to a civil rights claim which was voluntarily dismissed in federal court, refiled and adjudicated in state court, and then filed again in federal court.

I

This is a tragic case. The complaint alleges that on May 15, 1990, Gianna Blue, an innocent bystander during a liquor store holdup and shoot-out, was fatally wounded by shots fired by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies. The plaintiffs-Blue’s estate and some of her relatives (collectively, “the Estate”)-have filed a series of lawsuits against the County of Los Angeles and members of the County’s Sheriffs Department (“the County”). This is the third lawsuit involving the same civil rights claims and these parties.

Nine months after the shooting, on February 8, 1991, the Estate filed a complaint against the County in federal district court for the Central District of California (“Blue I”), alleging civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as well as civil RICO claims and state law claims. The County filed a motion to dismiss; on July 23, 1991, the district court denied the motion as to the § 1983 claims, dismissed the civil RICO claims with prejudice, and declined to exercise…