$600,000 Loss for Disneyland in Slaying Suit

Disneyland’s medical treatment of a teen-ager who was stabbed to death in the park in 1981 was negligent, an Orange County jury decided Tuesday, awarding the victim’s mother and brother $600,000 in damages.

The decision, after the jurors had deliberated only three hours, was a rare loss for Disneyland, whose lawyers have built a reputation for winning jury trials.

“We knew we were right,” said Ellen Reynolds, 49, of Riverside, who sued for wrongful death after her 18-year-old son, Mel C. Yorba, died in the only homicide in the 31-year history of the Anaheim amusement park.

“We knew we owed it to Mel to have this brought out so it can’t possibly ever happen to anybody else again,” Reynolds said. “Now everybody knows we were right.”

Jury foreman David Scott, 23, of Brea, said jurors were unanimous in deciding the park was negligent, though they split, 9-3, over the amount of damages.

The plaintiffs’ case in the trial, which began July 9, was largely an attack on park emergency procedures and a challenge to the performance of Disneyland employees Saturday night, March 7, 1981, when Yorba was stabbed in Tomorrowland after a scuffle with another man. James O’Driscoll of San Diego, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the killing, is serving a 16-years-to-life sentence.

Conflicting Testimony

The jurors had to sort out conflicting testimony from doctors, paramedical experts and witnesses to the incident.

Scott said the critical evidence was a written list of policy and procedures, compiled by Disneyland management, requiring that paramedics be called in all life-threatening cases. A registered nurse employed by Disneyland, Elizabeth Santy Micco, testified that she decided to send Yorba immediately to a hospital, rather than summon Anaheim paramedics.

“It wasn’t that hard for us to figure how they were negligent,” Scott said. “Disneyland didn’t follow their own standard operating procedures.”

A Disneyland spokesman, reading from a statement late Tuesday, said, “We are very surprised at the verdict. Our people followed all appropriate emergency medical procedures in aiding Mr. Yorba. But we will have no further comment until we have a chance to review the decision and evaluate our alternatives before the court.”

Second Opinion

Yorba was stabbed with an 8 1/2-inch knife through the tip of the heart, diaphragm and liver--a wound described as fatal by the two doctors who treated him at the Palm Harbor General Hospital, now the Medical Center of Garden Grove. One physician, Dr. Louis Taucher, said Yorba would not have survived if he had been stabbed in a hospital emergency room.

But John Luetto, attorney for Yorba’s mother, called a trauma surgeon to the witness stand who testified that Yorba would have stood a 50% chance of survival had he been given proper emergency medical care.

The last amount he discussed as a possible settlement with Disneyland lawyers was $200,000, Luetto said.

Last week, Disneyland spokesman Robert A. Roth said that shortly after Yorba’s death, the park decided to keep an ambulance on the grounds at all times. “We kept it for three years but discontinued it when we found it wasn’t serving any meaningful purpose,” Roth said. “There was no need.”

When filed in 1981, the lawsuit asked for $60 million in damages for Reynolds and Mark Yorba, Mel’s brother. Final court papers before trial asked damages “according to proof.”