Brian Stow Update: Who Is To Blame for the Brian Stow Attack?
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has written to baseball fans on Huffington Post , promising changes at Dodger Stadium. Mayor Villaraigosa states that he has been working with the Police Chief, the Dodgers, and the City Council, and promises increased LAPD presence (both uniformed and plain-clothes), enforcement of a "zero tolerance" violence policy, and enforcement of a "no tailgating" rule in the parking lots and surrounding areas.
Steve Lopez writes a sarcastic but veracious article in the Los Angeles Times, pointing out that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is on a damage control tour, while at the same time advertising half-price alcohol promotions. But to answer his question from a legal perspective, the most important factor will be whether the Dodgers had a sufficient amount of security in the parking lot, to conform to the standard of care expected in the industry, taking into account the flow of pedestrian traffic leaving the game, and the frequency of prior incidents. This is usually assessed by "experts" who have considerable amounts of experience in the security industry.
On the other hand, some times even the best of security measures cannot prevent assaults such as this. Stow could have been beaten in a matter of seconds, and unless an officer happened to be in the immediate vicinity, it would be difficult to prevent the incident. In the end, these cases typically require a jury to determine whether security was inadequate, and if so, whether inadequate security was a proximate cause of the incident.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.