I have a couple questions about the Zahau civil suit against San Diego county, that seeks (among other things) return of Rebeccas personal property.
There is a list of items being requested in their lawsuit against the County(link to filing below). Presumably, some or all of these items are desired by the plaintiffs, because they are valuable evidence for their 2nd civil case, the wrongful death lawsuit.
I suspect they wanted some, or all, of the items in order to have a more complete explanation in their WDS filing. And I suspect that since they didnt get them in time, they were worried about the statute of limitations running out as the deadline approached in July, so they went ahead and filed the WDS to avoid missing the deadline. Do you think this could be a correct interpretation?
It is my understanding that some of the items requested that are personal property should have been returned to the family a very long time ago, since the case was officially ruled a suicide and closed.
The first civil case against the County was filed 8 May 2013, and is ongoing. The next hearing is November 1, 2013.
Here are a couple posts with links to the civil suit against the county.
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Zahau Family Sues County for Additional Evidence
Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - Zahau Family Sues County for Additional Evidence
1. If there is a discovery item requested in the wrongful death suit that is on the unfulfilled list in the civil case against the County, could that item be compelled by the judge in the wrongful death case if requested by the plaintiff attorneys? (Or will this be a turf battle between 2 jurisdictions-- state and federal?)
2. Does the progress of the WDS compel certain items to be made available that might be requested as evidence, rather than simply personal property that is wanted by the family to be returned? (By that, I mean would the WDS take some kind of precedence over the unresolved civil suit against the county?)
3. Would the first civil case against the county have to be resolved in order for the items to be available to the plaintiffs (
or defendants) in the wrongful death civil lawsuit? The items listed could be of interest to both the plaintiffs and defendants.
I guess what Im asking is if the wrongful death suit will make it any easier for the plaintiffs to gain access to the items they requested in the lawsuit against the county? Does the progress of either lawsuit affect the other?
I hope I explained my questions clearly enough!
As always,
thank you in advance for your willingness to answer questions! Very much appreciated!