Filing Late Government Claims (Tort Claims) in California

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Generally government claims for personal injury and personal property damage are due with a public entity within six months of an incident, with some notable exceptions.

However, if a claimant fails to file a government claim within the sixth months, there is a procedure to file a late claim.

(a) When a claim that is required by Section 911.2 to be presented not later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action is not presented within that time, a written application may be made to the public entity for leave to present that claim.

(b) The application shall be presented to the public entity as provided in Article 2 (commencing with Section 915) within a reasonable time not to exceed one year after the accrual of the cause of action and shall state the reason for the delay in presenting the claim. The proposed claim shall be attached to the application.

(c) In computing the one-year period under subdivision (b), the following shall apply:

(1) The time during which the person who sustained the alleged injury, damage, or loss as a minor shall be counted, but the time during which he or she is mentally incapacitated and does not have a guardian or conservator of his or her person shall not be counted.

(2) The time shall not be counted during which the person is detained or adjudged to be a dependent child of the juvenile court under the Arnold-Kennick Juvenile Court Law (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 200) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), if both of the following conditions exist:

(A) The person is in the custody and control of an agency of the public entity to which a claim is to be presented.

(B) The public entity or its agency having custody and control of the minor is required by statute or other law to make a report of injury, abuse, or neglect to either the juvenile court or the minor’s attorney, and that entity or its agency fails to make this report within the time required by the statute or other enactment, with this time period to commence on the date on which the public entity or its agency becomes aware of the injury, neglect, or abuse. In circumstances where the public entity or its agency makes a late report, the claim period shall be tolled for the period of the delay caused by the failure to make a timely report.

(3) The time shall not be counted during which a minor is adjudged to be a dependent child of the juvenile court under the Arnold-Kennick Juvenile Court Law (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 200) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), if the minor is without a guardian ad litem or conservator for purposes of filing civil actions. California Government Code section 911.4.

The information you obtain at this blog is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by reading or commenting on this blog. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.

Copyright 2011 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law .

Michael Reiter is a partner with Cole Huber LLP

2855 E. Guasti Road, Suite 402

Ontario, CA 91761

Byron Waters, Pioneering San Bernardino County Attorney and the First President of the San Bernardino County Bar Association

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

As a Director-At-Large of the San Bernardino County Bar Association, President Jack Osborn asked me to serve on the San Bernardino County Bar Association Bulletin Committee.  As such, I will be writing a monthly column which will mostly be focusing on bench and bar history of San Bernardino County.  Below is a heavily edited version of my first article, which I have submitted for publication in the March or April bulletin.

Byron Waters 1849-1923 Pioneering San Bernardino County Attorney

[Illustration of Byron Waters, San Francisco Call, Volume 77, Number 108, March 28, 1895, Pg. 5]

Byron Waters was an organizer and the first President of the San Bernardino County Bar Association, organized in 1875.

In The Bench and Bar of the County of San Bernardino, State of California (1955), Page 15, former California Associate Supreme Court Justice and native of San Bernardino, Jesse William Curtis gave this synopsis of Mr. Waters’ life.

Hon. Byron Waters also came to San Bernardino before reaching his majority. He came from his native state of Georgia. He first worked for his uncle James Waters, who ran dairy in Yucaipa. But a dairy was no place for young man with Mr. Waters’ ambition and talents. He read law in the offices of Judge Rolfe and Judge Willis and was admitted to practice in 1871. He almost immediately gained place in the front ranks among the members of the bar of the county. His practice in an incredibly short time became both large and lucrative. In 1877[,] he was elected to the assembly and although one of the youngest members he was acknowledged as one of the leaders of the legislative body. By reason of the reputation gained at that one session of the legislature in the following year he was elected a delegate at large to the State Constitutional Convention which framed our present Constitution. In 1881[,] Mr. Waters temporarily retired from the practice of law and helped organize the Farmers Exchange Bank of San Bernardino and became its first president. But his love for the law drew him back to its practice and he soon retired from the banking business to enter again the ranks of the attorneys of this county. He at once took his place as one of the leaders of the Bar. He attracted the attention of Judge S.H. Mesick of San Francisco, a leading mining lawyer of the state, who offered him partnership if he would move to San Francisco. Mr. Waters accepted the offer and the firm of Mesick and Waters was formed and during the few years of its existence was retained in many of the most important mining cases before the courts of the state. Due to the failing health of Judge Mesick the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Waters practiced alone in San Francisco. After successful though rather brief practice in the then metropolis of the state, he returned to San Bernardino and again opened his office and continued his practice for a few years when he was offered membership in the legal staff of the Southern Pacific Company, which he accepted and again became resident of the bay district in the north. Evidently the character of the work for the railroad did not suit the taste of Mr. Waters for after few years with the company he resigned his position and again resumed his practice in his old home town. On each occasion of his return to this county his old, and many new, clients sought him out and his law practice soon assumed its old time proportion as one of the most profitable in the county. In his declining years he was so unfortunate as to lose his eyesight completely. Notwithstanding this affliction he continued with the assistance of two younger members of the bar to carry on an extensive and profitable law practice until the infirmities of age compelled him to retire from all activities. He passed away on November 29 1934 in the city in which he had made his home, with brief exceptions above referred to for so many years.

(Mr. Waters is sometimes referred to as “Honorable,” which refers to his one term in the California Assembly.)

Associate Justice Curtis’ summary of Waters’ life is a good synopsis of Byron Waters life, but additional details expose the true breadth of his career.

Copyright 2015 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law .

Michael Reiter is a partner with Cole Huber LLP

2855 E. Guasti Road, Suite 402

Ontario, CA 91761

New Addresses for the San Bernardino Justice Center

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

As you may know, the courts are going to be reorganized in San Bernardino County. Below is the proposed San Bernardino County Local Rule 130, effective July 1, 2014, which gives the new addresses for the San Bernardino Justice Center

RULE 130 DISTRICTS DEFINED
For the convenience of the parties, attorneys and the Court, sessions of the Court shall be
heard in Districts, which are based upon the Courthouse location as provided:
The San Bernardino District is the District consisting of the
Family Law and Probate Division, Child Support Division, Civil Division and Criminal
Division.
Family Law and Probate Division of the San Bernardino District
351 North Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415
(located in the Historic Courthouse) ;
Child Support Division of the San Bernardino District
655 West Second Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0248;
Civil Division of the San Bernardino District
247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415
(located in the San Bernardino Justice Center); and
Criminal Division of the San Bernardino District
247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415
(located in the San Bernardino Justice Center).
The Fontana District is the District consisting of the Courthouse located in Fontana.
The Rancho Cucamonga District is the District consisting of the Courthouse located in Rancho Cucamonga.
The Victorville District is the District consisting of the Courthouse located in Victorville.
The Barstow District is the District consisting of the Courthouse located in Barstow.
The Joshua Tree District is the District consisting of the Courthouse located in Joshua Tree.
The Juvenile Court District is the District consisting of the Juvenile Courthouse located in San
Bernardino and the departments of other Courthouses as designated by the Presiding Judge.
(Eff. January 1, 1999. Amended, January 1, 2005, January 1, 2007, and July 1, 2010. As amended,
eff. and July 1, 2013. As amended, eff. July 1, 2014.)

The information you obtain at this blog is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by reading or commenting on this blog. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.

Copyright 2014 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Michael Reiter is a partner with Cole Huber LLP

2855 E. Guasti Road, Suite 402

Ontario, CA 91761

Criminal Assignments in the New San Bernardino Justice Center

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

By popular request, here are the criminal law assignments at the new 247 W. Third Street San Bernardino Justice Center:

Courtrooms 1-4 will be unavailable until the fall (on the first floor)

S6 will be Judge Kenneth Barr (Misdemeanors)

S7 will be Judge Douglas N. Gericke (Preliminary Hearings)

S8 will be Judge Gilbert (specialty courts (drug court, veteran courts, etc) and video arraignments

S14 to S20 will be criminal trial courts, and I don’t have information on assignments yet.

Criminal will be located on floors 1-7.

Copyright 2014 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox, LLP

A: 1447 Ford St. #201

      Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 296-6708

E: mreiter@mblklaw.org

W: http://michaelreiterlaw.com

The New San Bernardino Justice Center Assignments (as of April 2014)

Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

I recently attended a meeting of GIEMLA and Judge Michael Sachs gave an update on the progress of opening the new Justice Center in downtown San Bernardino.  Here are some of the highlights:

15 Civil Courtrooms are available, of which 13 will be occupied.  Civil Departments will be located on floors 7-10.

20 Criminal Courtrooms are available, 18 will be occupied. Criminal Departments will be on floors 1-7.

There will be no pillars in the middle of the courtrooms.

Civil Assignments will be:

7th Floor:

S22 (Judge Donna Garza)

S23 (Judge Donald Alvarez)

S25 (Judge Keith Davis)

8th Floor

S27 (Judge Thomas Garza)

S28 (Judge Michael Sachs)

S29 (Judge Janet Frangie)

9th Floor

S30 (Judge Brian McCarville)

S31 (Judge John Pacheco)

S32 (Judge Pamela King)

S33 (Judge Joseph Brisco)

10th Floor

S34 (Mediations)

S35 (Judge Bryan Foster)

S36 (Judge Gilbert Ochoa)

S37 (Judge David Cohn)

Law and motion will be four days a week instead of 2

Limited Civil law and motion will be two days a week without a court reporter

Unlimited civil law and motion will be another two days a week

Judge Brisco will be the Supervising Judge for civil.

 

 

Copyright 2014 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox, LLP

A: 1447 Ford St. #201

      Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 296-6708

E: mreiter@mblklaw.org

W: http://michaelreiterlaw.com

 

Update: Why Were The States in the Streets Named After States in Redlands Chosen?

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

As an update to this post: I saw retired A.K. Smiley Public Library Director Larry Burgess at Eureka Burger last night, and I decided to ask him how the state-named streets in Redlands got their name.

Mr. Burgess was kind enough to tell me that they were named by the developer, and at least one of them was after his home state. He subdivided the land into roughly 25 acre parcels for orange groves, the remnants of which still exist in the area.  He said the information was not easy to find; he had run across it in years past.

A search of newspapers gives these references to the streets:

Iowa Street: San Bernardino Daily Sun, August 14, 1912, Pg. 9 (crop mortgage)

Alabama Street and California Street: San Bernardino Courier, April 25, 1894, Page 8 (Notice of Sheriff’s Sale on Execution).

New Jersey Street: San Bernardino Daily Sun, December 11, 1906, Page 6 (Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Bernardino responding to a petition of property owners requesting a protection district consisting of the Redlands Storm Water Channel (what appears to be known now as the Mill Creek Zanja).

Kansas Street: San Bernardino Daily Sun, July 9, 1914, Pg. 3 (Boy arrested for sandbagging).

Tennessee Street: San Bernardino Daily Sun, January 31, 1897, Pg. 3 (Petition for Mission School District to the Board of Supervisors)

Nevada Street: San Bernardino Daily Sun, May 2, 1903, Pg. 2 (Petition to have Nevada accepted as a public road to the Board of Supervisors)

New York Street: Daily Sun, January 31, 1897, Pg. 1 (House building permit).

Texas Street: Daily Courier, September 26, 1888, Pg. 3 (Redlands Cannery to be constructed)

He agreed that some were added later to keep up the theme.

 

 

Copyright 2014 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox, LLP

A: 1447 Ford St. #201

      Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 296-6708

E: mreiter@mblklaw.org

W: http://michaelreiterlaw.com

The New San Bernardino Courthouse: Address And Name

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

I received a notice today from the court on one of my San Bernardino District cases.  It says:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: AFTER May 12, 2014, THIS CASE WILL BE HEARD AT THE SAN BERNARDINO JUSTICE CENTER, 247 WEST 3RD STREET, SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92415-0210. The above-entitled case has been reassigned for all purposes to the new court location as of May 12, 2014.

What does that mean to you, the attorney, the in pro per, the paralegal, litigant or secretary? On your captions, instead of Central District or San Bernardino District, start writing “San Bernardino Justice Center” and instead of 303 W. Third Street, write 247 West 3rd Street on Judicial Council forms or local forms.

Copyright 2014 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox, LLP

A: 1447 Ford St. #201

      Redlands, CA 92374

T: (909) 296-6708

E: mreiter@mblklaw.org

W: http://michaelreiterlaw.com

Progress on the construction of the new San Bernardino District Courthouse

I have taken a series of the photographs during construction every time I go to court (and when I remember to do so).

The construction is continuing apace. According to the Administrative Office of the Courts , the Courthouse is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2014.

One interesting fact that I did not know according to that site is that the address is actually going to be on second street – 247 West 2nd Street to be exact.

Copyright 2013 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Michael Reiter is a partner with Cole Huber LLP

2855 E. Guasti Road, Suite 402

Ontario, CA 91761

Friday Aside: Why Were The States in the Streets Named After States in Redlands Chosen?

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

I have yet to find an answer.  Some clues are found in the archives of the Fortnightly Club of Redlands, Streets in Redlands, by Dr. Lawrence E. Nelson, January 1974 at the Assembly Room of the A.K. Smiley Public Library.  The best take-away, completely non-related to the subject of this post,  from 1974:

Philip Merlan, the scholarly refugee professor at the University of Redlands and later at Scripps, once remarked that when he came to Redlands he was amazed to find how religious the people were; they even had a patron saint for torn-up streets. Everywhere he went he saw signs set up honoring St. Closed.

What states have streets named after them in Redlands?  Of the north-south streets, from west to east: California Street, New Jersey Street, a very tiny Oregon Street off of Orange Tree Lane, Nevada Street, Idaho Street connecting Plum Lane and Orange Tree Lane,  the solely-south-of-the-10 Iowa Street, Alabama Street, the rump Arizona Street off the anachronistic Coulston Street, Missouri Court (a cul-de-sac off of Park Avenue), Indiana Court, the cul-de-sac off of West Lugonia Avenue, Kansas Street (home of the Animal Shelter), which runs from Barton to Redlands Boulevard, Tennessee Street, the carved-up New York Street, Texas Street,  the somewhat north-south Michigan Avenue, Colorado Street north of Pioneer Avenue, the northside Ohio Street, the probably-not-named after the state Washington Street, and the probably-named-after-the-daughter-of-a-developer Georgia Street.  As far as east-west streets, Pennsylvania Avenue, Delaware Avenue, the way-out-east-may-technically-be-in-Yucaipa Florida Street.

I once answered an interrogatory speaking about Illinois Court (meaning Indiana Court), the location of a fatal motorcycle accident (outside the City limits), and the then-Public Works Director, Ron Mutter, informed me that there was no Illinois Court within the City, despite the fact that a variety of really old streets are named after Chicago streets (such as State Street) in Redlands.

The state-named streets are on the Lugonia grid, and that the original ones were California, New Jersey, Nevada, Iowa, Alabama, Tennessee, Kansas Street, New York Street, and Texas Street.  California is an easy one, but why Alabama and Tennessee?

Looking at a 1939 topographical map online, we see California Street, New Jersey Street, Nevada Street, Iowa Street, Alabama Street, Kansas Street, Tennessee Street, New York Street, and Texas Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue.  On the 1899 Redlands Quadrangle map, you can clearly see California and Alabama (the former because of its proximity to Bryn Mawr, the latter because it goes across the Santa Ana wash to Highland, but it doesn’t give street names.  The same on the 1901 Redlands Quadrangle topographical map, available on the USGS website for download, and the Redlands Quadrangle Map of 1908 shows the same.  So for now, the mystery of why certain states and not others is still a mystery.

[2023 Update] I thought I updated this post years ago.  I was in the County Recorder’s Office in San Bernardino.  On the wall was the Barton Tract map and it showed that the North south streets in what would later be called the East Valley Corridor Specific Plan were named after the states (Alabama, Iowa, California, etc.  For more on this and other topics, visit your local library.

Copyright 2013 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Michael Reiter is a partner with Cole Huber LLP

2855 E. Guasti Road, Suite 402

Ontario, CA 91761

How to Travel Between San Bernardino and Redlands . . . And Vice Versa

By Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law.

Redlands and San Bernardino share a border, but it can sometimes be difficult to travel between the two cities.   San Bernardino is the older of the two cities, even if you are talking about San Bernardino’s second incorporation.  San Bernardino was laid out first, on mostly a straight north, south, east, west grid.  Part of Redlands is on a north, south, east, west, grid, the former Lugonia.  Most of south Redlands lies in opposition to San Bernardino’s grid.

Interstate 10 connects the two cities.  Redlands Boulevard, the former Highway 99, enters Loma Linda before it goes through San Bernardino. The same is true for State Route 210:  You have to enter the City of Highland before it connects to San Bernardino.  Though San Bernardino International Airport (formerly Norton AFB) is the border between a large swath of the two cities, the Santa Ana Wash currently prohibits direct access without going to Tippecanoe or Alabama/Palm.

The major streets with a border between San Bernardino and Redlands are Mountain View Avenue and San Bernardino Avenue; Victoria Avenue and Almond Avenue also work.  Lugonia Avenue used to connect to Mountain View, but a development turned it into a cul-de-sac in the 2000s.  While I was at the City of Redlands, there was some talk about a Mountain View Avenue extension across the river, but I have no idea about the status of such plans.

[2023 update: Mountain View Avenue is now accessible through the City of San Bernardino, thanks to Amazon.com]

Copyright 2013 Michael Reiter, Attorney at Law

Michael Reiter is a partner with Cole Huber LLP

2855 E. Guasti Road, Suite 402

Ontario, CA 91761