Fresno court tosses $8.5 million civil verdict in killing of Seth Ireland

A Fresno appellate court has thrown out an $8.5 million civil jury verdict in connection with the 2009 killing of 10-year-old Seth Ireland and has ordered a new trial against Fresno County’s child protective service, which is accused of failing to protect the boy from abuse.

Seth’s father, Joseph Hudson, and stepbrother, Jervon Ireland, sued the county, accusing county social workers of failing to investigate reports of abuse against Seth.

In February 2013, a Fresno County Superior Court jury returned a verdict of $8.5 million, ruling that CPS was partly responsible for Seth’s death because social workers did not properly investigate Seth’s situation. The jury assigned the county 65% of the blame for Seth’s killing, meaning it must pay 65% of the damages, or $5.5 million.

The man who killed Seth, Lebaron Vaughn, was assigned 25% of the responsibility, and Seth’s mother, Rena Ireland, was assigned 10%. Vaughn was Rena Ireland’s boyfriend.

Vaughn is serving a prison term of 15 years to life. Rena Ireland was given six years for enabling Vaughn.

In its ruling, the Superior Court jury found that the county was negligent because it violated mandatory duties imposed by regulations in the California Department of Social Services’ manual of policies and in the procedures in the Child Welfare Services’ manual. The violations were a substantial factor in causing Seth’s death, the jury ruled.

But Justices Brad Hill, Donald Franson Jr. and Gene Gomes of the 5th District Court of Appeal say otherwise.

In a ruling issued Wednesday afternoon, the justices say a new trial is required because the jury’s answers to the liability questions in the special verdict form about violations of mandatory duties “are irreconcilably inconsistent.”

“The inconsistencies resulted from the jury finding general provisions of the regulations, which referred to specific provisions, had not been violated and then later finding the specific provisions had been violated,” the ruling says.

County Counsel Daniel Cederborg declined to comment, saying he had not yet read the appellate opinion.

Hudson’s lawyer, Warren Paboojian, said Thursday he was disappointed in the ruling.

“We don’t believe the jury made an inconsistent finding as to liability. The jury found that CPS violated over 12 mandatory duties. Even if two of those duties were inconsistent, the remaining 10 violations were enough to find liability,” he said.

Ironically, Paboojian said, the county’s lawyer proposed the verdict form, “which ultimately was found to be inconsistent.”

Although he is disappointed about retrying the case, Paboojian said he won a big battle: The appellate court denied the county’s request to dismiss the case.

“We will keep fighting for justice for Seth Ireland,” said Paboojian, who contends the evidence “will be better the second time around.” That’s because the appellate court ordered CPS to produce an investigative report regarding Seth’s death. The report was prepared after the boy was killed, but it was never turned over to Paboojian or made public.

The report was ordered to be produced by the trial judge before the beginning of the jury trial in 2013, but CPS refused to comply with the trial judge’s order. “This report was intentionally kept from our community and Seth’s attorneys,” Paboojian said.

In ordering the release of the report, the appellate justices have “righted a great wrong,” Paboojian said.

“We look forward to trying this case again with the new evidence that was withheld,” he said. But so far, the county has not released the report.

Seth was hospitalized on Dec. 29, 2008, after being punched and kicked repeatedly by Vaughn. Seth died Jan. 6, 2009. His tragic death has statewide implications because child social workers are largely immune from lawsuits that challenge their discretion because of the complex nature of their work.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Fresno court tosses $8.5 million civil verdict in killing of Seth Ireland."