Kathy Craig v. Nicholas Petropulos

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
KATHY CRAIG; GARY WITT,
individually and as successors-in-interest to
Brandon Lee Witt, deceased,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
NICHOLAS PETROPULOS,
Defendant-Appellant,
and
COUNTY OF ORANGE,
Defendant.
No. 19-55324
D.C. No.
8:17-cv-00491-CJC-KES
MEMORANDUM*
KATHY CRAIG; GARY WITT,
individually and as successors-in-interest to
Brandon Lee Witt, deceased,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
COUNTY OF ORANGE; NICHOLAS
PETROPULOS,
No. 19-56188
D.C. No.
8:17-cv-00491-CJC-KES
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
FILED
AUG 18 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Cormac J. Carney, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted May 5, 2021**
Pasadena, California
Before: OWENS and LEE, Circuit Judges, and SIMON,*** District Judge.
Dissent by Judge LEE
Nicholas Petropulos and the County of Orange (“Defendants”) appeal from a
jury verdict awarding $1.8 million in “loss of life” damages to Brandon Witt, who
died in the custody of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. We have
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
On appeal, the Defendants argue that the district court improperly awarded
compensatory damages for “the loss of life experienced by” Witt. Specifically, the
Defendants contend that death is not compensable because a person cannot
“experience” his loss of life; such damages are inherently speculative; and loss of
life awards are not authorized by Chaudhry v. City of Los Angeles, 751 F.3d 1096
(9th Cir. 2014). We recently rejected these arguments in Valenzuela v. City of
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
*** The Honorable Michael H. Simon, United States District Judge for the
District of Oregon, sitting by designation.

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Anaheim, No. 20-55372, 2021 WL 3355499, at *4-5 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2021), when
we upheld the jury’s loss of life award and determined that California state law
prohibiting such damages was “inconsistent with [42 U.S.C.] § 1983.” Valenzuela
is indistinguishable from this case. As a result, we affirm the jury’s $1.8 million
damages award for Witt’s loss of life.
AFFIRMED.

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Craig v. Petropulos, 19-55324
LEE, Circuit Judge, dissenting:
I agree that the issue in this case is indistinguishable from our previous
discussion of loss of life damages in Valenzuela v. City of Anaheim, No. 20-55372,
2021 WL 3355499 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2021). Therefore, I respectfully dissent for the
same reasons laid out in my dissent in Valenzuela.
FILED
AUG 18 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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