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City admits liability for killing woman in Park

By Alan “Lorax” Hirsch

On February 23, 2021, a mother, Jennipher Comey,  was struck, pinned down and killed  by a failed city tree that stood beside the  sandbox in Slide Hill Park in east Davis. As also reported in the Enterprise Sunday, the event occurred  in front of her 3 year old daughter Marjory.   Two weeks ago, after four years, the city admitted its inadequate tree care, and thus liability. This admission only seems to have occurred after an under-oath deposition by the former city arborist of the time. Robb Cain. He stated there was no city record of this tree ever being pruned in past, no current plan to ever inspect it for safety- or any future schedule to even do any routine tree maintenance  pruning in the Slide Hill Park.  This according to Davey Resource Group lawyer, a codependent in the case and the company the city hired to do the city’s $250,000 urban forest master plan (UFMP) later in 2021.

In contrast, professional arboriculture “standard of care” practice calls for paying heighten attention to trees that overhang a children’s play area or picnic tables- as the fallen one did.  Slide Hill Park’s trees were ignored, not even on the city’s minimal 7 year “block pruning” cycle street trees get according to Davey.

The delay in admission meant the city seems to have made no payment to support the family over the last four years since the incident. During that period the now orphan girl and her surviving father left Davis and moved to Ohio to be near family for support not received in Davis.

Also reported in the Enterprise the  city has now offered $10 million to settle the case. The family is asking 30-$40 million for loss of the girl’s  mother based on loss income and care. 

At the trial Friday the lawyer speaking for city said they “supported” the father and child getting what they needed to heal. The family’s  lawyer objected to this statement before Jury that the  of city was acting in a “supportive” matter as they had taken no responsibility or made support  payments  for the four years since the incident.  The judge agreed with the family’s attorney and blocked further such city statements in front of jury, four time stating they were  “gratuitous.“

The case continues to unfold.

The public can watch trial- likely to go on 2 more weeks. It will likely expose more of the inadequacies of city tree maintenance program, and determine the amount of damages the city must pay.  Watch either livestream on the internet or in person at yolo superior court in Department (court room) 11 in Woodland. The public can watch at http://www.yolo.courts.ca.gov , 10:30 to noon and 1:30 -4:30pm every weekday day except court holidays Wed 2/12 and Mon. 2/17.

Alan “Lorax” Hirsch can be seen handing out “love your neighbor” lawn signs most Saturdays in the Davis Farmers’ Market.

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Comments

15 responses to “City admits liability for killing woman in Park”

  1. Alan Lorax

    Trial update:
    One of observations by a Davey tree expert on monday trial was tree failure break was in middle of limb not at joint. This is unusual they noted — and would indicate end weight on long limb also noted was proximate cause- which a routine pruning cycle would have addressed this.
    The city lawyer attempted to make something of split trunk structure 30 feet from break point to blame Davey- aka competing leaders
    But stay tuned for more testimony.
    The Lorax

    Reply
  2. Ron O

    It seems that the probable result of this will be a reduction in the number of trees and/or canopy – citywide.
    Especially around picnic tables/play areas, which will now be unprotected from direct sunlight.

    Reply
  3. Nora Oldwin

    This happened right next door to where I live, I heard the branch crack. The city didn’t want the jury to see pictures of the damage-that’s why they admitted liability. Otherwise, the jury would have seen many photos of tree limbs dropped in Slide Hill, and the damage those caused. Now there is only a fight over the value of the lost life, and what the city will have to pay. But the whole thing was more than heartbreaking, the woman’s glasses were still on the concrete rim of the sand area, and there was blood there, too. The concrete table installed in the sand area was broken and cracked by the fall of the limb. In fact, the limbs were falling from other trees in the park, and had been-the city workers would come out and saw them up. But there was no point calling the city because everyone knows the city didn’t value pruning- and would say the same thing that they’ve said for years- there’s no budget for consistent maintenance of trees. Those of us with city trees in our yards in my neighborhood resort to trimming them ourselves or letting them “go” without pruning- and they are not healthy without pruning. It’s just tragic.

    Reply
  4. Alan C. Miller

    RO say, “It seems that the probable result of this will be a reduction in the number of trees and/or canopy – citywide.”
    RO, there are those who think this is already occurring, with aggressive tree trimming and removal by the City contractor. But that is hard to prove without an alternate universe in which the tree did not break.

    Reply
  5. Alan C Miller

    NO say, ” Those of us with city trees in our yards in my neighborhood resort to trimming them ourselves or letting them “go” without pruning- ”
    Yeah, people do trim their trees, and it’s against the law. A friend on my street was trimming his tree and the city tree contractor saw him and started yelling at him and threatening to report him. They almost got in an altercation, but my friend pointed out something the contractor had f’d up and threatened to report him, so I guess it ended a stalemate. And my friend finished trimming his City tree.

    Reply
  6. Ron O

    Nora says: “Now there is only a fight over the value of the lost life, and what the city will have to pay.”
    I’m going to guess that it’s substantially-less than the value ($$) of someone like Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, etc.
    Truth be told, it is a dollar figure (regarding expected earnings).
    If I was on that jury, the result might be different than someone who wants to place the entire blame on the city. Then again, that goes for a lot of lawsuits I see these days. Apparently, some jurists are too ignorant to realize that the defendant is “themselves”.

    Reply
  7. Ron O

    “But that is hard to prove without an alternate universe in which the tree did not break.”
    See “Charlie Brown Christmas” regarding an example of a future city/park tree.
    Oh, well – there’s always solar panels that can be used for shade. That is, until someone gets electrocuted by one.
    https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154378851051005

    Reply
  8. Jay

    This death is certainly tragic, but the $30-$40M being sought by the plaintiff seems excessive in comparison to payouts for the killings of unarmed black men by police. The city’s $10M settlement offer also seems high to me. There’s a big difference between police brutality and negligent tree maintenance.
    The family of Michael Brown was awarded $1.5M in Ferguson MO.
    The family of Stephon Clark was awarded $2.4M in Sacramento.
    And the family of George Floyd was awarded $27M in Minneapolis.

    Reply
  9. Alan C. Miller

    J say, “in comparison to payouts for the killings of unarmed black men by police.”
    Is that the standard to which all lawsuits are compared?

    Reply
  10. South of Davis

    There are still some pretty big payouts (see the three year LA total below):
    In 2023, a federal jury concluded that Tammy Murillo should receive $23.8 million in compensation for the death of her son — one of the largest payouts ever awarded in a case involving an LAPD shooting.
    The two officers fatally shot 32-year-old Navy veteran Murillo, who held a metal bar that the officers mistook for a machete.
    Earlier this month, City Controller Kenneth Mejia released a report showing the city paid nearly $472 million in the last three years for liability claims.
    I don’t know anything about the Davis tree branch case but when I was involved with politics in SF the attorneys that “won” the big selltlemnts would almost always kick back a big chunk of the millions they won to the politicians that approvd the settlements.
    [deleted off-topic part of the comment related to national politics]

    Reply
  11. Ron O

    I would think that the monetary value of someone’s life (but not their assets) decreases with age.

    Reply
  12. Jay

    Alan C. Miller asks “Is that the standard to which all lawsuits are compared?”
    No, it’s not a standard. It’s just a comparison I came up with. But it gives some limited historical perspective of how much municipalities have paid in high profile wrongful death cases. The low end being sought in the Davis case is at least 12-20 times the amount paid in the Clark and Brown cases respectively, and about 10% more than paid in a case where 4 city officers were convicted and sent to jail for killing Floyd.
    Nobody can put a monetary value on a human life because It’s not something you can replace. The $10M settlement offer by the city seems to me to be generous when compared to the few wrongful death payouts I looked up. The $30-$40M request by the plaintiffs seems greedy to me.

    Reply
  13. Michael Forster

    “It’s deeply troubling to hear about the city’s admission of liability for the tragic death of Jennipher Comey in Slide Hill Park. The negligence in maintaining the tree that caused her death is unacceptable. My heart goes out to her family, especially her young daughter who had to witness this horrific event. This case highlights the urgent need for better oversight and accountability in public safety measures.”

    Reply
  14. Colin Walsh

    Actually I have been watching the trial. the jury was showed the body camera footage of the first responder and many still images of the massive fallen limb. The city fought to keep the body cam footage that showed out in pretrial motions, but they lost and the footage came in.

    Reply
  15. Alan Hirsch

    City tree expert walt water said under oath trees of this size and age should be pruned every 3 to 5 years. The cities actual pruning cycle is once every seven years. And the city has no record of ever pruning this tree before the accident once as the park trees were on the seven year cycle yet.
    This is under oath.

    Reply

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