TRIALCOURTDECISIONS
027
This case arose out of an accident between a PUSD school
bus and two other vehicles in April of 2012. The driver and
passenger in one of the vehicles alleged severe injuries as a
result of the accident, which, as they claimed, was caused by
the negligence of the school bus driver. Before a lawsuit can
be filed against a public entity in Arizona, such as a school
district, a notice of claim (“NOC”) must be filed with the Chief
Executive Officer of the entity. In cases where the CEO is a
board, such as a county’s board of supervisors or a school
district’s governing board, the NOC must be filed with the
entire governing board. In October of 2012, the Claimants’
attorney mailed notices of claim (one for each claimant) to the
PUSD Administration Center, one PUSD Board Member, and
PUSD’s attorney, Michael Hensley.
The claims were denied and a lawsuit was subsequently filed in
April of 2013. PUSD’s attorneys at Jones, Skelton and Hochuli
moved to dismiss the case arguing the Notice of Claim Statute
had been violated, and that a lawsuit could not be initiated,
because the Notice of Claim was not filed with all members of
the PUSD Governing Board. The Trial Court agreed. Plaintiffs
appealed, but the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the Trial
Court’s decision in favor of the Firm’s client, holding that the
NOC must be filed with all members of the PUSD Governing
Board. The case was dismissed and PUSD was awarded its
costs.
This case is an example of the coordination between the Firm’s
trial attorneys and appellate attorneys to secure a win for the
Firm’s client.
Chelius v. Small
March 2, 2015
United States District Court, District of Arizona
Don Myles, Michele Molinario and Amelia Esber
Don Myles, Michele Molinario & Amelia Esber prevailed by
summary judgment in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights action
against the City of Yuma. The U.S. District Court for the District
of Arizona found that there was no liability on the part of the
City of Yuma because the arresting officer did indeed have
probable cause to arrest the plaintiff, Rodney Chelius. The
net effect of this victory was to save the City of Yuma over
$1.5 Million in potential damages and reiterate the Yuma
Police Department’s authority under the Constitution to arrest
suspects when there is probable cause that a crime has been
committed. A summary of the case is as follows.
The case stemmed from the September 2012 arrest of
the plaintiff Rodney Chelius by Yuma Police Department
officers. Although Chelius’ arrest did indeed lead to a charge,
the criminal case was eventually dismissed due to lack of
cooperation by the alleged victim. Chelius, in turn, sued the
City of Yuma and the arresting officer alleging f