OVANDO v. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES PART I
Trial court did not err in ordering new trial on ground of juror misconduct in suit by man, convicted of trumped up charges in police department scandal, against his attorney and public defender's office for legal malpractice where juror denied familiarity with scandal during direct questioning on voir dire but had previously starred in motion picture explicitly referencing scandal. Where question existed whether plaintiff should have suspected that his counsel was acting negligently at time of sentencing hearing, defendants were not entitled to summary judgment on ground that complaint filed over two years later was barred by statute of limitations. Trial court erred in ruling that plaintiff's cause of action for legal malpractice required exoneration by post-conviction relief in order to accrue and that he was entitled to relief under Government Code Sec. 946.6 from claims presentation requirement. Civil Code Sec. 1431.2 requires apportionment of fault among all tortfeasors, notwithstanding any immunity as a public employee under Government Code Sec. 821.6, in a legal malpractice cause of action seeking primarily noneconomic damages for personal injury.
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