Trial Begins in Lawsuit Over Disneyland Death

The trial of a lawsuit alleging that a stabbing victim bled to death at Disneyland in 1981 because the park failed to provide adequate medical and security services opened in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday.

The wrongful-death suit was filed by the family of Mel C. Yorba, who was 19 when he was stabbed in an altercation at Disneyland.

Disneyland has denied the allegations, contending that emergency services in the park were adequate and reasonable.

Richard E. McCain, an attorney for the amusement park, told jurors in the courtroom of Judge Jerrold S. Oliver that Yorba’s death was a tragedy that Disneyland could not have prevented.

Yorba was stabbed by James O’Driscoll of San Diego, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 1983 and is serving a 16-year to life sentence, court records show.

The incident began when O’Driscoll claimed Yorba had touched his girlfriend, and a fistfight ensued. Shortly afterward, O’Driscoll attacked Yorba again, this time stabbing him with an 8 1/2-inch knife, according to court records.

Nurse’s Decision Key Point

A key point in the case is the decision by Elizabeth Micco, a nurse employed by Disneyland, to send Yorba to a hospital in a park van. In a sworn statement, Micco said she believed that using the van was the quickest way to care for Yorba.

But Yorba’s stepfather and mother, Clarence and Ellen Reynolds, claim that Disneyland had a policy of not calling paramedics and ambulances onto park property. The lawsuit alleged that the park had a policy of “preventing municipal police or security agencies access to the park.”

In her deposition, Micco said, “I felt I had to get the man out of the park right away, and time was of the essence.”

Thirty minutes after he was stabbed in Disneyland, Yorba arrived at Palm Harbor Hospital. The lawsuit claims that he was dead on arrival.

Several public officials, including the chief of operations for the Anaheim Fire Department, criticized Disneyland’s failure to call paramedics. The criticism was repeated by several county health officials shortly after Yorba’s death.

The suit, filed one month after the death in 1981, asks for $60 million in damages.