The Mendoza lawsuit arises from a police canine bite that occurred in 2011.  During the incident, David Mendoza fled (in vehicle and on foot) from our police who were attempting to serve a search warrant on his residence.  After speeding away from the police, Mendoza returned to his residence, ditched the car, and ran into his house - creating a barricade situation.  SWAT was deployed to the house, along with two canine units, to apprehend the fleeing suspect.  After clearing the house, Mendoza was found hiding in a garden shed in his backyard when he suddenly opened the doors of the shed while the leashed dog was sniffing it.  The dog, Havoc, was given the order to bite and bit Mendoza on the forearm a maximum of two times and led Mendoza along the narrow walkway back to the SWAT team where he was taken into custody and given medical attention.

Mendoza submitted a notice of claim to the City for $2 million, alleging catastrophic and permanent injuries to his forearm.  The City denied the claim and Mendoza eventually filed suit.  We successfully dismissed the first case and when it was re-filed, we removed it to federal court, where there is a unanimous jury requirement.  In the federal court, both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The City partially prevailed and was dismissed from several portions of the suit.  We appealed the district court’s ruling denying qualified immunity to our officer, and recently lost that appeal after arguing it before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The case is now ready for trial in the federal district court, along with outside counsel that we have retained to assist us.

A:  Approval of the Settlement will resolve this case and any outstanding dispute and limits the exposure of the City to possible additional just compensation, accruing interest, and continued costly litigation.

If the case proceeds to trial, we can reasonably expect another $200,000 or more in litigation expenses, including experts, discovery and depositions, appeal, exhibits, mock juries, and outside attorney fees.  While we are confident in the facts of this case if it proceeds to trial, there will be significant exposure to the City.  Along with their damages claim, if Mendoza is at least partially successful on his federal claim, by law the City can be liable for his attorneys’ fees.  Because of the significant exposure to the City, we have attempted several rounds of negotiations with opposing counsel, utilizing both private mediators and the court.  Recently Mendoza’s counsel reopened negotiations, which resulted in a final settlement amount of $297,000.00.