Wrongful Death Suit filed Nov. 13, 2013 in California

[bourne]

I'm not going to quote anyone's posts, because frankly I don't want to get involved in the nastiness I'm seeing here, but let me just clarify:

On a Motion to Dismiss, a judge must accept the facts alleged by the plaintiff as true, and is not permitted to consider whether or not any evidence exists to support those facts.

On a Motion for Summary Judgment, the judge looks at the evidence presented to him, and if there is any question as to which side should win at trial, the case moves forward.

The judge recently denied a Motion to Dismiss on the ground that the allegations, if true, would support the plaintiff's claim. No one has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment yet.

A settlement conference at this early stage is no big deal and will only take a couple of hours.

Defendants have to request a jury trial if they don't want to give up that right. It doesn't mean they want the case to go to trial. It means that, if it does go to trial, they want a jury.

Before anyone quotes this post, I would respectfully ask that you refrain from doing so if you plan to use it to say something snarky to another WS member.

Hi AZlawyer,

Thanks for all your legal expertise. Are you saying that irrespective of a case's lack of merits and/or its frivolousness, if a plaintiff files a suit, that simply because they have made "claims", that the case must therefore go forward?

E.g., Let's examine a truly frivolous suit. Let's say a plaintiff wants to sue his deaf, dumb, blind, mute, immobilized neighbor because lightning from the sky had struck down a tree in plaintiff's yard and he wants the neighbor to pay for his damaged tree. The facts are that the neighbor has eyewitnesses and videotape which can vouch that neighbor was nowhere near the plaintiff's premises when lightning struck and had no physical/scientific capability to cause or communicate in any way to have someone else cause the lightning in any way.

Are you saying that according to the letter of the law, a Judge must allow this truly frivolous case to proceed at the "Motion to Dismiss" stage?

 

[LuckyLucy2]

BBM...Then, IMO, it would seem to follow that Rebecca would not have intentionally caused Max's accident. Yet Dina has never backed off of the accusation.

I think Rebecca thought if Max was out of Jonah's life, Dina would be too. Rebecca would be the one to comfort Jonah, Dina would be gone, and then he would finally marry her.

And when Max didn't die right away and Child Protective Services was called, she decieded to kill herself (since she knew it would be over with Jonah), and tried to frame Dina. That way, she hurt them both with her suicide.

IMO.

 

[kittychi]

Check for Adam's DNA on Rebecca's mouth to prove he tried to give her CPR? Really? Why would they waste time and resourses when they have Rebecca's death to solve and that certainly isn't going to tell them who was responsible for her death.

I suggest you read the autopsy report which is available on the Document thread. It indeed does state that Rebecca died by hanging, was alive when she went over the balcony, and that the neck wounds are consistant with hanging.

BBM: Dr. Wecht questioned this, so I do too.

 

[AZlawyer]

Hi AZlawyer,

Thanks for all your legal expertise. Are you saying that irrespective of a case's lack of merits and/or its frivolousness, if a plaintiff files a suit, that simply because they have made "claims", that the case must therefore go forward?

E.g., Let's examine a truly frivolous suit. Let's say a plaintiff wants to sue his deaf, dumb, blind, mute, immobilized neighbor because lightning from the sky had struck down a tree in plaintiff's yard and he wants the neighbor to pay for his damaged tree. The facts are that the neighbor has eyewitnesses and videotape which can vouch that neighbor was nowhere near the plaintiff's premises when lightning struck and had no physical/scientific capability to cause or communicate in any way to have someone else cause the lightning in any way.

Are you saying that according to the letter of the law, a Judge must allow this truly frivolous case to proceed at the "Motion to Dismiss" stage?

Yes, if the plaintiff's complaint tells some kind of story that would, if true, make the neighbor responsible for the damage. The judge would not be allowed to consider whether the facts were supported by any evidence at that stage.

 

[kittychi]

I think Rebecca thought if Max was out of Jonah's life, Dina would be too. Rebecca would be the one to comfort Jonah, Dina would be gone, and then he would finally marry her.

And when Max didn't die right away and Child Protective Services was called, she decieded to kill herself (since she knew it would be over with Jonah), and tried to frame Dina. That way, she hurt them both with her suicide.

IMO.

A big stretch, IMO, which paints Rebecca as a selfish, heartless woman who wanted JS all to herself, without Max or anyone else. That she did not care in the least about Max.

Am I surmising your statement correctly to read that she murdered Max then, and only because CPS called she killed herself because she was "caught?"

IMO It seems ludicrous that CPS would lay out a whole case to her over the phone: that she was being accused of severely injuring this child and would face consequences.

Then to leap to a conclusion that this phone call caused her suicide? Or was it Jonah's missing phone call that caused her to commit suicide per the SDSO?

So are we to believe that one of two phone calls led to her suicide?

IMO not even reasonably possibly true.

 

[screecher]

Yeah, I agree Jonah was happy being in a relationship with Rebecca. I think he knew she was a 'keeper'. How sad for him he lost two great loves in the span of a week.

I know Rebecca was 'thinking' of taking a break, due to his inability to reign in his teen-agers disrespectful behavior toward Rebecca. I do wonder what the dynamics were with the older kids and Max, particularly regarding Rebecca's and Maxie's very close relationship.

I believe Maxie's 'accident' and the truth not being stated about what really happened (cover up, if you will) was the catalyst for Rebecca's murder. Perhaps if the few 'major players' (IMO) involved with Maxie's accident had spoken up, I believe Rebecca may still be alive. Perhaps not.

 

[Ausgirl]

^ Just to chime in on the claim Rebecca was so desolate she hung herself.. Great point about her thinking of taking a break due the teens' disrespect. This shows she a/ had self-respect, and b/ wasn't clingy or needy or any of the other guff. Rebecca clearly was no such thing.

 

[bourne]

I agree Ausgirl. You make excellent points!

I think someone might be projecting Dina's personality traits onto Rebecca. Recall how police reports state that Dina jumped atop Jonah's car to stop while screaming "You can't leave me!" Such unhealthy, raging, violent desperation and clinging onto a man were clearly evidenced in Dina.

Rebecca, on the other hand, was ready and willing to take time off her relationship with Jonah because of his older children's disrespect. Clearly she was not someone who needed a man. It is obvious that Rebecca did not feel she needed to marry Jonah irrespective of circumstances. Hence the argument that she harmed a child in order to "hold on" to Jonah is absolutely ridiculous as to not deserve any contemplation.

 

[MaybeNotToday]

Some of these traits applied to the people in this case remind me of characters from a bad novel. Humans are much more complex. These are people of whom most of us really no little. What we know has been taken from police reports and the few interviews given. What we know is what we've been allowed to know really. Hardly a way to profile someone. Especially a "killer". But, carry on. . . It's all entertainment at the end of the day.


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[bourne]

It is evident that we can only infer things about the parties in the case from what has been published either in police reports which readers assume to be factual, and/or media articles and/or testimonies by people who know the parties/direct observations. Otherwise, we'd all be making wild, unsubstantiated, unsourced guesses from the abyss of our minds.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

Please note the IMO after my statement. Many here have accused Dina of giving the press Rebecca's shopping information, but she was donating her son's organs at the time, so that's rather doubtful. Rebecca was someone's child, true, but she was a 32 old woman, married and divorced. Max was a child and was someone's child....he never will get to grow up and experience life like Rebecca did.

I'm only somewhat familiar with this case [modsnip]

I don't think RZ was a great person, to be honest, but it seems wildly unlikely that she would have killed herself just to cause trouble for DS. You pointed out many imperfections in an earlier post, which to me shows that RZ seemed to have some narcissistic tendencies, so your examples actually make it seem less likely that she would hurt herself, the one person she loved the most based on your descriptions.

I think this situation is a whole lot of selfish people who got mixed together and ended up with a terrible outcome due to them all putting themselves first.

[modsnip]

 

[MaybeNotToday]

It is evident that we can only infer things about the parties in the case from what has been published either in police reports which readers assume to be factual, and/or media articles and/or testimonies by people who know the parties/direct observations. Otherwise, we'd all be making wild, unsubstantiated, unsourced guesses from the abyss of our minds.

Yes, thank you. That's exactly my point. We are piecing together what we believe is a complete puzzle. But we're only working with half the box - the pieces that were given to us by LE, news articles and interviews. Whatever we patch together from that will be incomplete at best. This isn't a puzzle, but more a game of charades. It's LE, the families involved and the victims - the real players in this who hold all the cards. The rest is speculation. And yes, believe me, much of it is wild.


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[Ausgirl]

So it's fine for somebody to come on here and say our posts are "entertainment". That we are playing "charades" and our posts are all "wild" speculation. [modsnip]

 

[screecher]

Well, it isn't a 'bad novel', a 'game of charades', nor do I find it to be wild 'entertainment'. It's real life. And homicide.

It is known as fact there were four 'players' at the mansion that night. One is dead, the other three are being deposed. It's a known fact one of these players lied about her whereabouts and also regarding the time frame when she learned of Maxie's dire condition.

Ask yourself, why she would lie???

 

[screecher]

...Max was a child and was someone's child....he never will get to grow up and experience life like Rebecca did.

Snipped

Giving Dina enough motive to murder Rebecca for sure.

 

[K_Z]

So, just to update everyone about the case, I checked a couple places today, and the last entry on the docket (#50) is still the entry setting the Early Neutral Evaluation conference:

NOTICE AND ORDER for Early Neutral Evaluation Conference. Early Neutral Evaluation set for 12/9/2014 02:30 PM before Magistrate Judge Nita L. Stormes. Signed by Magistrate Judge Nita L. Stormes on 10/30/2014.(jpp) (Entered: 10/30/2014)

Source: PACER, Case # 3:13-cv-01624-w-nls
https://www.pacer.gov/

BTW, even if a case settles, the documents will remain available, just in case anyone was wondering.

 

[LuckyLucy2]

Well, it isn't a 'bad novel', a 'game of charades', nor do I find it to be wild 'entertainment'. It's real life. And homicide.

It is known as fact there were four 'players' at the mansion that night. One is dead, the other three are being deposed. It's a known fact one of these players lied about her whereabouts and also regarding the time frame when she learned of Maxie's dire condition.

Ask yourself, why she would lie???

Do you have PROOF that she lied, or is that your opinion?

And no, it was a suicide, and correctly ruled a suicide. One 'player' took her own life, [modsnip]

 

[bourne]

Yes, thank you. That's exactly my point. We are piecing together what we believe is a complete puzzle. But we're only working with half the box - the pieces that were given to us by LE, news articles and interviews. Whatever we patch together from that will be incomplete at best. This isn't a puzzle, but more a game of charades. It's LE, the families involved and the victims - the real players in this who hold all the cards. The rest is speculation. And yes, believe me, much of it is wild.


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[modsnip]

I wholeheartedly disagree that this is a "complete puzzle." It would be a complete puzzle if all we have was a dead body and nothing more. However, we have:
a) police reports both pre- and post-Rebecca's murder;
b) 911 phone calls;
c) a drama-ridden, elaborate crime scene;
d) collection of physical evidence;
e) eyewitnesses of Dina being at the crime scene;
f) ear-witnesses hearing a woman scream for help during the timeframe Rebecca was murdered viciously and sadistically;
g) interviews of the POIs and defendants (Nina, Dina, and Adam by police, including one polygraph of Adam on videotape);
h) lawyers and several judges involved in an evolving and progressing wrongful death suit...

So no. This case is not a complete puzzle.

"The truth shall set you free". JUSTICE for REBECCA ZAHAU.

 

[screecher]

^Also, a confession from Nina. Oh and Dina lying. Now why would she feel the need to lie?

bahahaha!!!

 

[MaybeNotToday]

[modsnip]

I wholeheartedly disagree that this is a "complete puzzle." It would be a complete puzzle if all we have was a dead body and nothing more. However, we have:
a) police reports both pre- and post-Rebecca's murder;
b) 911 phone calls;
c) a drama-ridden, elaborate crime scene;
d) collection of physical evidence;
e) eyewitnesses of Dina being at the crime scene;
f) ear-witnesses hearing a woman scream for help during the timeframe Rebecca was murdered viciously and sadistically;
g) interviews of the POIs and defendants (Nina, Dina, and Adam by police, including one polygraph of Adam on videotape);
h) lawyers and several judges involved in an evolving and progressing wrongful death suit...

So no. This case is not a complete puzzle.

"The truth shall set you free". JUSTICE for REBECCA ZAHAU.

Everyone keeps making my point and not getting it.

As I said before, no it's not a complete puzzle. We hold about 50 pieces to a 100 piece box. We can't make a complete picture, so we have to make up stuff and force a fit. Not sure how much simpler I can make the analogy.

I'm not sure what exactly happened to Max or Rebecca. With the pieces we know, I patched together a picture similar to LE's. Before I go labeling people murderers, I like to be sure I have all the information. And I simply don't. Do you?




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