Valenzuela v. City of Anaheim

6 F.4th 1098 (2021)

From our private database of 46,200+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Valenzuela v. City of Anaheim

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
6 F.4th 1098 (2021)

Facts

Anaheim police officers Woojin Jun and Daniel Wolfe (defendants) received a call concerning Fermin Valenzuela, a suspicious person at a laundromat. Wolfe confronted Valenzuela, who had a glass pipe and a screwdriver in his possession and who appeared to be in a chemically altered state. Valenzuela resisted arrest. The resulting altercation between Valenzuela, Wolfe, Jun, and supervising officer Daniel Gonzalez (defendant) ended in Valenzuela’s death by chokehold. Valenzuela’s father and children (the Valenzuela family) (plaintiffs) brought suit against the three officers and the City of Anaheim (defendant), alleging excessive force and wrongful death. The federal district court found in the Valenzuela family’s favor, awarding $13.2 million in damages. The award was based on multiple theories of liability, including loss of life, which accounted for $3.6 million. The officers and the city appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, citing a ban on recovery for a decedent’s loss of life in California state law, which was controlling unless it existed in conflict with federal damages law.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Owens, J.)

Dissent (Lee, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 797,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 797,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 797,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,200 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership