Wrongful Death Suit filed Nov. 13, 2013 in California, #4

[justice be served]

From the link:



Someone's fixin to have a very long 2016.

Yah, that is if she sticks around and doesn't duck out of the country.

 

[K_Z]

I personally believe she (or shall I say Chubb) will settle prior to the SDSO deciding to reopen Rebecca's case. I will ask anyone who might know again, should Dina be charged and convicted of murder, can Chubb claw back from Dina any potential settlement funds paid on her behalf?

I agree, justice be served. I think Chubb and Sons will want very strongly to settle this case. And Dina may agree-- just to keep herself off the witness stand and keep all the discovery out of court and the media.

I actually hope they don't settle. I want this to have the disinfecting *glare* of the strong southern California sunlight brought to the attention of the public.

 

[K_Z]

Yah, that is if she sticks around and doesn't duck out of the country.

One of the Shacknai teens is reportedly studying outside the country. Maybe she will go (flee?) for an "extended visit"?

 

[SophieRose]

I personally believe she (or shall I say Chubb) will settle prior to the SDSO deciding to reopen Rebecca's case. I will ask anyone who might know again, should Dina be charged and convicted of murder, can Chubb claw back from Dina any potential settlement funds paid on her behalf?

In OJ's case, his umbrella insurance policy paid for his defense in the civil case, and he got to pick his attorneys, but the insurance company would not pay out on the settlement, that was on him.

 

[K_Z]

Another news service picks up today's ruling:

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/mar/11/wrongful-death-lawsuit-in-zahau-case-moves-forward/

Wrongful Death Lawsuit In Zahau Case Moves Forward

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Rebecca Zahau, who was found naked and hanging from a second-story balcony of a Coronado mansion on July 13, 2011, can proceed to trial, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

Keith Greer, the attorney for the Zahau family, alleges in the wrongful death suit that Jonah Shacknai's brother, Adam Shacknai, and Jonah's ex-wife Dina Shacknai and her sister Nina Romano were behind the 32-year-old woman's death.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants' motive for killing Zahau was revenge for the accident in the mansion that killed Max Shacknai.

In a hearing today before Judge Katherine Bacal, attorneys for the defendants failed in their efforts to get the case dismissed.

The judge set a trial date for March 10, 2017.

 

[*Lash*]

*Updated article* - Dina Shacknai's attorney responds.

1 BBM - Interesting choice of words, "an ocean away"...
2 BBM - Basically, even if she was murdered they can't prove my client did it.

Dina Shacknai's attorney Bradley Matthews said the plantiff's assertion that Zahau was murdered as revenge for Max's death was not logical or based in fact.

"Being upset with someone is an ocean away from being homicidal," Matthews said. "It is not a reasonable inference."

Matthews said even if Zahau's injuries were not self-inflicted, the plaintiff'ss case is lacking because it doesn't clearly identify who did what to her.

"Not a single word in the allegation addresses what is the crux of our argument, which is identify. In response to our argument that there's nothing in there about identity, the plantiffs cite to a paragraph to rebut that that expressedly has nothing in it about the identity of those people. And that's the heart of what we're talking about," Matthews said.

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Coronado-Wrongful-Death-Lawsuit-Will-Go-to-Trial--371756572.html#ixzz42hDWKvrH

 

[Betty P]

"Being upset with someone is an ocean away from being homicidal," Matthews said. "It is not a reasonable inference."

Said every criminal defense attorney ever..

Re Dina's attorneys claims (that weve've all heard ad nauseum) that RZ's family has no details of how Dina participated in her deat, that level of detail isn't required. I'll have to go back and check, but one of the recent court documents cites past case law stating a plaintiff doesn't have to be aware of the specific actions of the accused in order to prove harm.

 

[K_Z]

^^^ Lash, I agree with you about Attorney Mathews' choice of words. Very odd. Video clips with news articles indicate that news media was in the courtroom filming the hearing, and so there are a few short clips of Attorney Mathews speaking. Perhaps the clips chosen were an anomaly, but it seems to me that he is not a particularly adept public speaker. He seemed distracted, or maybe nervous, in the video clips, IMO-- and his discussion about "identity" was rambling/ confusing. Most lawyers don't actually spend much time in court, so maybe he is just a nervous speaker? IDK.

But I do note that DS's more prominent attorney from that firm, Kim Schumann, who has spoken to media on her behalf in the past, doesn't seem to be very involved with her representation anymore. He hasn't signed any documents, or spoken to the media, for a very long time-- maybe 2 years or so. I get the sense DS's case has been passed down to one of the less senior attorneys in that firm. Maybe because it's an insurance pay case, and it has gone on so long? Has to be a real time suck when a case goes on for years.

 

[K_Z]

The Minute Order (6 pages) from yesterday's hearing is now available on the SD ROA.

Here's a temporary link, and I'll try to upload the pdf in another post.

https://roa.sdcourt.ca.gov/roa/face...A-325_03-11-16_Minute_Order_1457798772846.pdf

A few notable things:

Pursuant to California Rules of Court 3.714, the Court, after having met and conferred with counsel, deems this case as 'exceptional' and orders the case exempt from the case disposition time goals and a case progression plan is set forth, with the goal of disposing the case within 3 years.

Pursuant to the stipulation of parties, no procedure or deadline set forth herein may be modified, extended or avoided by stipulation or agreement of the parties unless approved by the Court in advance of the date sought to be altered.

Case deemed at issue. Pursuant to stipulation of the parties, no new parties may be added without leave of court. The Court does not address the dismissal date for unserved, non-appearing and fictitiously named parties.

All Motions and Discovery are to be completed 30 days prior to trial. Motion for Summary Judgment / Summary Adjudication will be heard pursuant to code. First expert exchange to be completed per stipulation. Second expert exchange to be completed per stipulation. Posting of jury fees to be posted by 3/18/2016.

Estimated length of trial: 1 month

BBM above and below.

Nina's request for judicial notice of the Medical Examiner's Reports is denied. The Court finds that the Reports are not materials for which mandatory notice is required under Evidence Code § 451(a). Further, the Court declines to take permissive notice under Evidence Code §§ 452 and 453, as the requesting party failed to furnish the Court with sufficient information to enable it to take judicial notice. See Evidence Code § 453(b). Moreover, even if the Court were to take notice of the existence of the Reports, it would not take notice of the truth of the statements and findings contained therein. See Herrera v. Deutsche Bank Nat. Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 1366, 1375 (the fact that a court may take judicial notice of a document "does not mean it may take judicial notice of factual matters stated therein"). In her reply, Romano acknowledges that the Court could not take the Medical Examiner's findings as conclusive, but argues that Health and Safety Code § 103550 creates a rebuttable presumption of correctness. Even if the Reports fell within the terms of § 103550, which is not at all clear, the presumption Romano asks the Court to apply is appropriate when weighing facts, not for ruling on a demurrer.

 

[Tssiemer]

So I've read a lot of forums and threads on this case. Let me get this straight.

People think she was murdered because of her possible role in Max's accident.

People think she killed herself because of her possible role in Max's accident.

So either way she died as a result of Max's accident that she may or may not have had a role in.

But they are suing the family for wrongful death because they think the family killed her?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[K_Z]

Minute Order from hearing 3-11-16:

View attachment 37-2013-00075418-CU-PO-CTL_ROA-325_03-11-16_Minute_Order_1457798772846.pdf

 

[K_Z]

So I've read a lot of forums and threads on this case. Let me get this straight.

People think she was murdered because of her possible role in Max's accident.

People think she killed herself because of her possible role in Max's accident.

So either way she died as a result of Max's accident that she may or may not have had a role in.

But they are suing the family for wrongful death because they think the family killed her?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not "the family". Specifically, Dina Shacknai, Nina Romano, and Adam Shacknai are named in the wrongful death lawsuit. Each of the 3 are alleged to have participated in her gruesome killing.

The case documents are available in this thread below if you're interested in reading more about the case.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ca-Zahau-Wrongful-Death-Suit-Court-Docs-Links

 

[justice be served]

One of the Shacknai teens is reportedly studying outside the country. Maybe she will go (flee?) for an "extended visit"?

Yes, both of them may benefit from being 'oceans away' to quote the defense curiously enough. I've taken latitude on applying the quote of course.

 

[justice be served]

I agree, justice be served. I think Chubb and Sons will want very strongly to settle this case. And Dina may agree-- just to keep herself off the witness stand and keep all the discovery out of court and the media.

I actually hope they don't settle. I want this to have the disinfecting *glare* of the strong southern California sunlight brought to the attention of the public.

Yes, PLEASE don't settle this! If the presumptions turn out to be true, there should be arrests of the defendants in the future. Does anyone know when Sheriff Gore's term is up? Ideally, the case should be looked at by a new administration - one without any alleged personal/political ties to Jonah Shacknai.

 

[K_Z]

Yes, Justice be served-- Sheriff Gore deserves the lion's share of criticism on Rebecca's case, IMO.

Here's a good CNN ireport commentary about Gore's ineptness over decades of prominent cases:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1029511

 

[justice be served]

I would have to guess there are lots of machinations underway and that a big sympathy campaign is soon to erupt from Dina's camp. That has been her modus operandi and I expect it to rachet up to sway public opinion not to mention the impact of the eventual jury pool.

 

[K_Z]

Couple more new news articles today:

http://patch.com/california/coronado/judge-orders-trial-spreckels-mansion-death-hanged-woman-0

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/mar/11/wrongful-death-lawsuit-in-zahau-case-moves-forward/

 

[Imp]

I would have to guess there are lots of machinations underway and that a big sympathy campaign is soon to erupt from Dina's camp. That has been her modus operandi and I expect it to rachet up to sway public opinion not to mention the impact of the eventual jury pool.

She shouldn't waste her time, imo. She's one of the most UNsympathetic characters I've ever seen or heard from. I would also imagine she's burned lots of bridges in recent years.

 

[K_Z]

She shouldn't waste her time, imo. She's one of the most UNsympathetic characters I've ever seen or heard from. I would also imagine she's burned lots of bridges in recent years.

I agree completely with this, Imp. Playing up "sympathy" is a double edged sword for Dina, IMO. The more she accentuates her grief, and compulsion to blame Rebecca and her sister, with her idea that they are responsible for Max's accident, the more she appears to be a hateful, vindictive ex-wife bent on obsessive revenge.

And the easier it becomes to understand the motive for murder that the Zahau lawsuit has alleged.

I think the defendants will spend the next year or so trying to figure out how to settle this thing to avoid testifying in open court. It will be a heavily publicized trial, IMO.

 

[Imp]

The one glaring omission in all of Dina's attorney's public responses to the WDS (unless I missed it) is mention of her alibi for the hours during which Rebecca died.

As others here have pointed out repeatedly, if she was at the hospital at Max's bedside, PRODUCE THE VIDEO. If she was behaving benignly elsewhere, where is the testimony of those who were with her or talked to her, because surely she wasn't alone during those devastating hours leading up to the pronouncement of Max's death?

Heck, at this point, if I was Dina and the truth was that I was down the street from the hospital at a local bar getting plastered, I'd provide my alibi, as unsavory as it might be. Beats the heck out of being suspected of murder, doesn't it?

Fact is, the three defendants in the case don't seem to have an alibi for the night/morning of RZ's murder, and of the three, Dina should be the person with a rock solid alibi given her son was lying gravely injured at Rady.