Trial Will Determine What County Owes Couple for Landslide

A couple whose home was destroyed in the massive 1983 landslide at Malibu’s Big Rock Mesa will begin a jury trial next week to determine how much Los Angeles County must pay in damages in the first of 230 lawsuits filed by homeowners.

Estimates of the total damages that could be assessed for the homes range from $100 million to $500 million.

Margaret and August Hansch, who built their house in 1980, are seeking $2.3 million for property loss, plus an unspecified amount for emotional distress and legal fees.

On Oct. 4, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jack T. Ryburn ruled, after a 3 1/2-month trial, that the county is liable for the damage to the Hansch home.

The second phase of the trial to determine the amount of damages could take two to four weeks, according to attorneys.

Ryburn ruled that the county “participated in the planning and approved the development of Big Rock Mesa, utilizing seepage pits and horizontal drains which contributed to higher ground water which was a substantial cause of damage to plaintiffs’ property.”

The slide involved 150 to 250 acres. Thirty homes were condemned. The rest are habitable, but property values have plunged.

The 230 homeowners originally filed lawsuits against the county, the Flood Control District, the state Department of Transportation and Waterworks District 29. In the Hansch case, Ryburn dismissed all defendants except the county.

Attorney Richard Norton, who represents the Hansches and 50 other homeowners, said that, in the second phase of the trial, the jury will be presented with two independent appraisals of the Hansch house. After the value of the house is set, Ryburn will decide on attorney fees.

Lack of Warning

The main issue in the emotional-distress claim, Norton said, is that the county failed to warn the homeowners of the danger. Norton said the county conducted studies in 1980 and 1981 that revealed the mesa was moving but “withheld” the information. Norton also plans to introduce a warning letter to homeowners that was drafted by the county two years before the slide but was not sent.

Attorney William Vaughn, who represents the county, said there is disagreement about whether the next phase of the trial should include the emotional-distress issue.

“We think that there was no failure to warn and also there was no duty to warn,” Vaughn said, adding that the warning letter was not sent to the homeowners because the survey on which it was based was “inaccurate.”

As the complex case moves to the damages phase, there is also confusion about the effect of Ryburn’s Oct. 4 ruling on the other cases. Lawyers for the homeowners contend that the county’s liability has been established and should not be retried in the 230 other cases.

Kenneth Chiate, an attorney who represents 160 homeowners and who lives in Big Rock, said, “It seems to me that, now that we have a ruling, I would be hopeful there would be some effort now to try to resolve the case, so that we don’t have to waste taxpayer money to litigate” the same issues “time and again.”

But Vaughn took issue with the notion that the Hansch case sets a precedent. “We never thought it was a test case,” Vaughn said.

Possible Delay

An appeal in the Hansch case could delay using it as a model for the other 230 cases for more than a year, until a final decision is reached, lawyers said. The county has not decided yet whether to appeal.

Chiate said that, regardless of the possibility of an appeal, he intends to press forward with cases involving 11 clients, all of whom are over 70 years old and who have a legal right to a trial starting no later than Dec. 17. He said that, if the county appeals and does not concede liability, “then it seems to me they are going to have to go to trial.”

All 230 cases have been consolidated for pretrial motions before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice R. Hogan Jr. How all of the cases, including the 11 referred to by Chiate, move through the courts may be determined at a hearing before Hogan on Friday.

Vaughn has filed a motion to consolidate all of the cases into one trial. If his motion is successful, Vaughn said, “we’ll have to start from scratch” with a new trial.

Norton said he would prefer to work out a settlement or to begin assessing damages rather than start a new trial on who is liable. If the Hansch case is appealed, the homeowners’ lawyers may ask the courts to begin assessing the damages in the other cases, Norton said. “We’ve heard figures of up to $500 million” from county Supervisor Deane Dana for the potential damages, Norton said. “I don’t think that’s a realistic assessment of the damages. It may be useful to try some damage cases for homes that are not completely destroyed to learn whether they have any remaining value. I don’t believe they do.”

To Hear Motions

Another issue is the fate of the county’s countersuits against more than 300 past and present homeowners, developers and architects. Hogan will hear motions dealing with the countersuits on Friday.

Vaughn has said that the county intends to pursue the countersuits, which contend that the slide was caused by homeowners, developers and architects involved in developing the mesa in the early 1960s.

Charles Vogel, president of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., who is representing 38 homeowners against the countersuits, said he is concerned that the countersuits could lead to a very cumbersome trial.

As the case drags on, the meter for the already expensive litigation continues to run. The county has spent more than $3.2 million in the case, according to John Krattli, senior deputy county counsel.

The lawyers for the homeowners are working on a contingency basis, Norton said. He said the costs for the case have been about $800,000, mostly for engineers, geologists and other experts.

Ralph Saltsman, a Big Rock homeowner, said people are taking comfort in Ryburn’s decision “because nobody wants to suffer the kind of financial disaster that accompanies the irreplaceable loss of a home.”

Another piece of good news for the homeowners is that the landslide appears to have stopped. Eugene Don Michael, a geologist who has supervised efforts to pump water from the mesa, said the main slide has stopped, although there is still movement in isolated areas.