Brown v. County of Kings

Filed 4/11/06 Brown v. County of Kings CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kings County. Peter M. Schultz, Judge.

Allen Brown, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Weakley, Ratliff, Arendt & McGuire and James J. Arendt for Defendants and Respondents.

-ooOoo-

Allen Brown sued Kings County Sheriff Deputy Rod Huckabay and his employer, County of Kings, for injuries he sustained when he was arrested by Huckabay. The jury concluded Huckabay acted reasonably and returned a verdict in favor of the defendants.

Brown contends the trial court erred in admitting various items of evidence, permitted Huckabay's attorney to make an argumentative opening statement, interfered with the presentation of his case, and permitted Huckabay to perjure himself.

Brown's failure to cite any legal authority to support any of his arguments has resulted in a waiver of the entire appeal. In addition, most of his arguments are not supported by the record. Finally, even if we consider the merits of each contention, we conclude the judgment must be affirmed.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY

Huckabay testified he was on patrol in a marked sheriff's department vehicle wearing a full uniform at approximately 2:00 a.m. on the night in question. He was driving near a local casino when he observed a vehicle passing in the opposite direction that had exempt plates, meaning it was owned by a government agency, and had a logo on the door of the vehicle. These observations led Huckabay to question why a government-owned vehicle would be driving at 2:00 a.m. in the vicinity of a casino. When Huckabay looked in his rear view mirror, he noticed the taillights of the vehicle were not operational. He decided to make a traffic stop.

Huckabay made a U-turn to follow the vehicle. The vehicle made a turn without stopping at the intersection that was controlled by a stop sign, providing a second Vehicle Code violation to support a traffic stop. Huckabay, with the police car's emergency lights activated, pulled in behind the vehicle. The vehicle pulled to the right side of the road and then made a left turn, stopping in the roadway, the two vehicles essentially forming a â€