A Federal Court Judge allowed the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Clients of Alex Galindo with Curd Galindo & Smith LLP to proceed and ordered the Defendants to answer the family's complaint.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Court records state that a Federal judge on August 27, 2024 advanced the lawsuit brought by Alex Galindo on behalf of his client, the Coderre family. The lawsuit alleges that Aaron Coderre, a state prison inmate, was murdered in a single-person shower by a convicted murderer, Joshua Rudiger, who drinks his victims' blood and claims to be a 2,000-year-old vampire.
Court records state that prison officials found Aaron Coderre dead with multiple stab wounds to the neck and torso in a shower at the California Health Care Facility (CHCF) in Stockton on May 31, 2020. The facility houses inmates who require extensive medical or mental health care.
The lawsuit alleges that inmate Joshua Rudiger was in the shower with Coderre. The lawsuit also alleges that Rudiger claims to be a 2,000 year old vampire who drinks the blood of his victims for strength and vitality. Rudiger was serving a life sentence for slashing a San Francisco homeless woman's neck, killing her and drinking her blood in a 1999 attack.
The lawsuit further alleges that prison officials violated the civil rights of Coderre in failing to provide basic protection and that the prison officials were negligent in their duties to provide due care to Coderre and ignored that Rudiger was a danger even after Coderre complained about Rudiger's threats. In 2023, a federal judge allowed those claims to proceed.
Court records show that on August 27, 2024, U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley, ruled that the family properly alleged that prison officials failed to protect Coderre in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights because they were deliberately indifferent when they ignored the signs that Rudiger was a danger to Coderre.
The court order states:
"Plaintiff alleges Rudiger was known in the facility as the 'Modern Day Vampire.' "Plaintiff further alleges defendants knew of Rudiger's violent history and continued proclivity for slashing the throats of others and drinking their blood," Judge Nunley wrote. "Plaintiff alleges defendants also knew Rudiger would pose a substantial risk of harm if placed in close contact with another inmate.
The court documents states: Plaintiff specifically alleges the decedent requested defendants protect him from Rudiger and reported to defendants that Rudiger threatened him."
Judge Nunley advanced claims of supervisor liability against two prison officials who were responsible for monitoring video feeds that showed Rudiger entering the single-cell shower where Coderre was and placing a towel over the window of the shower. This suspicious behavior should have triggered intervention, Judge Nunley wrote, especially after Coderre had complained to a sergeant that Rudiger had threatened him and asked to be moved to a mental health crisis bed for his own safety. The sergeant denied Coderre's request.
The judge dismissed claims that the defendants failed to summon medical care for Coderre because there is no evidence Coderre was alive when he was found or that any of the defendants knew Coderre needed immediate medical care. Coderre's mother did not contest the dismissal of the medical care claims and did not request leave to amend them.
The court records state that Judge Nunley advanced wrongful death and negligence claims for similar reasons to the Eighth Amendment claims.
Mr. Galindo is a founding member of Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP which is a full service law firm that represents both corporate and professional clients and those who have been seriously injured or have lost a family member due to an accident, defective product, police misconduct or negligence. The law firm has recovered millions of dollars for its thousands of clients since 1995 by winning complex and challenging business disputes, death and injury cases involving police misconduct, traffic collisions, work place injuries and defective products, including defective automobiles, against some of the world's largest companies and governmental agencies.
Mr. Galindo received his business degree from University of Southern California in 1982 and his law degree in 1985 from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Galindo has been a lawyer and real estate broker for over 30 years. He has won numerous jury verdicts and settlements in the area of personal injury, products liability and civil rights/police misconduct cases. Mr. Galindo is a member of ABOTA which is an organization of attorneys representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases. All of the attorneys who belong to ABOTA have earned great distinction at trial. Mr. Galindo is a member of Los Angeles County Bar Association, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, NPAP (National Police Accountability Project), National Lawyers Guild, National Association of Realtors and California Association of Realtors.
Media Contact
Alex Galindo, Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP, 1 800-300-2300, [email protected], www.cgsattys.com
SOURCE Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP
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