Cresencia B. Tortuya Cristeta Tortuya v. United States

81 F.3d 170 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. Cresencia B. TORTUYA; Cristeta Tortuya, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee. No. 94-16998. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Feb. 15, 1996. Decided March 22, 1996. Before: SCHROEDER, D.W. NELSON, and KOZINSKI, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * 2 Cresencia B. Tortuya and Cristeta Tortuya, the wife and mother of deceased Gene Tortuya, appeal the district court's judgement for the United States, following a bench trial. The suit, a wrongful death action under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 , claimed that two psychiatrists at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) negligently treated Gene Tortuya's mental illness, causing his suicide on June 19, 1989. 3 Mr. Tortuya had been treated as an outpatient at VAMC. His sudden suicide occurred in the late evening after he had returned to the clinic and met with…