On April 4, 2018, a jury in San Diego County awarded over $5 million in damages to the family of Rebecca Zahau in their wrongful death case against Adam Shacknai. The defendant vowed to appeal.
QUESTION: Since 60 days would appear to have elapsed since the judgment, has a notice of appeal been filed on Mr. Shacknai’s behalf, and if not, is there still time available for such a notice to be filed?
Ozzie Maland
Walnut Creek, CA
Nick Vujicick: “It isn’t the pursuit of happiness, it’s the happiness of pursuits.”
The webmaster for Straight Dope said my question was an appropriate one for the message boards, and I think he was referring to the general and huge public interest in this legal case.
Judgment in a civil matter is not the date the jury returns its verdict. There is typically a lot of post trial motions that delay entry of the final judgement. Then the 60 day clock starts to run. I don’t know anything about this case, but a few extra months would not be unusual.
Not at all obvious to me. I was admitted to the bar in Illinois and am still on the inactive roll of attorneys in the state—but I had almost no involvement in litigation and did not know about a typically long interval between verdict and judgment in civil suits. Your information, therefore, is very much appreciated. Do you have a thought as to whether, if a judgment was obtained, the plaintiffs would served a certified copy upon the defendant so as to start the 60-day period for filing an appeal?
I think a lot of people shared my interest in a finding of suicide by a sheriff and medical examiner where the decedent’s body was found naked hanging outside a balcony, that interest being evidenced by the fact that a majority of jurors found another person to have committed a wrong, to the extent of large damages, in her being so found—and those jurors had to choose to not accept the county officials’ story.
Since we have a number of lawyers who post here, that shouldn’t be a problem.
To clarify, legal questions about a specific case in which the OP has a personal interest are most appropriate for IMHO. However, general questions about the law itself are appropriate for this forum.
This said, should this turn into a debate it may be sent to Great Debates.
Our webmaster is the person who handles questions sent to the site.
The final judgment issued by the court would be served on all parties simultaneously. Sometimes in open court at a post trial hearing, sometimes just sent out with no hearing (after briefing).
“Rebecca Mawii Zahau, 32, was discovered dead on July 13, 2011, at the Spreckels Beach House in Coronado, California, owned by her live-in boyfriend, Medicis Pharmaceutical CEO Jonah Shacknai. Zahau’s death occurred two days after Shacknai’s 6-year-old son Max took a fatal fall from a staircase banister in the same beachfront mansion. Zahau was the only adult present at the time of the child’s fall.”
“The deaths drew intense public and media scrutiny.[9] On July 14, Medicis had its sharpest one-day decline in stock price since February.[24] News of the death and investigation received international coverage in various countries including Brazil, New Zealand, Finland, Spain, and the United Kingdom throughout July and August.[40][41][42][43][44] In early September, various Forbes writers, including true crime writer Cathy Scott and lawyer Victoria Pynchon, expressed doubts about the investigators’ conclusions; Pynchon described the ruling as an “embarrassing public blunder.””
The case file is available on the San Diego County Superior Court’s website. It is civil case no. 37-2013-75418. I am not familiar with state civil procedure, but the docket does not seem to show a judgment having been entered or a notice of appeal having been filed. There is some sort of post-trial motion that was just heard, having to do with a “Failure to File Judgment,” and I do not know what that means in this context. I did not download any pleadings, which might require payment.
Great info, Tom. Doing some searching online, I think the probable explanation is that the judge requested plaintiffs’ attorney to submit a form of judgment which would reflect the court’s decision in the case—this request not being complied with within a few days. So, the court docketed a hearing on the question whether the case should not be dismissed because of “Failure to File Judgment.”
San Diego TV station KUSI on August 3, 2021, reports [Excerpts]: “The sheriff’s investigators have said that Rebecca committed suicide after getting a phone call from her boyfriend at 12:50 a.m. That’s less than six hours before her body was found, which doesn’t include the prep and execution of the scene…
The medical examiner arrived on scene 12 hours after Rebecca’s body was found. Dr. Lucas testified Rebecca could have died 10-12 hours before she was found at 6:44 a.m. The sheriff’s investigation does not fit that timeline.”