Battles Lost and Cases Won by Gene Hallman In 1976, a new case came into the office of Mautz and Hallman, a two-lawyer litigation firm in Pendleton. I was a baby lawyer, having recently completed a clerkship with the Oregon Supreme Court. This new case combined tragic and compelling facts with difficult legal questions. With perhaps unjustified confidence I said: “I can handle that.” Off I went. The case was Christensen v. Epley.1 No case better exemplifies the ups and downs of plaintiff work. The case was dismissed twice on pretrial motions. Two trips to the Court of Appeals and two to the Supreme Court resulted in a clarification and expansion of governmental liability, wrongful death recovery and premises liability. Through this case, Oregon became one of the first states to abolish the odious “fireman’s rule”, which had been used to deny recovery to first responders injured or killed in the line of duty. My primary opponent for those eight years was the Bullivant firm, including, for a short time, the late Rupert Bullivant. My primary opposition lawyer, Doug Hamilton, later shared with me the story of his “award” at an annual meeting of insurance defense counsel that he received recognizing him for “making the worst law for the defense bar in a single case.” The Case On February 5, 1976, Darrell Thompson knocked on the door of the Umatilla County Juvenile Detention Center, then popularly known in these parts as “kiddie jail.” He requested the detention officer, on duty alone, admit him so that he could visit his incarcerated girlfriend. Contrary to the rules, which prohibited such admission and required police notification, the detention officer complied. Predictably, Thompson then overpowered the detention officer and assisted his girlfriend to escape the facility. Their plan went awry when their car broke down a few blocks away. Pendleton Police Officer John Christensen was on patrol and unaware of the escape when he encountered the youths. He stopped to assist. While he was attaching jumper cables a call came over his radio reporting the escape. A struggle ensued. Officer Christensen was stabbed with a hunting knife. He died later of his injuries. Officer Christensen was survived by his wife, Wendy, five children and his mother. I filed a wrongful death case against the assailant, Umatilla County and its employees in Umatilla County Circuit Court. It alleged the county and its employee were negligent in failing to maintain security at the center and in permitting the escape. It further alleged that, as a foreseeable result of the escape, Officer Christensen was attacked and killed. Venue was quickly changed and the case was transferred to Wasco County. The case was assigned to John Jelderks, a well-regarded judge in The Dalles. The Battles Begin and The Case is Lost The defendants’ first motion attacked the plaintiff’s claim for $300,000 damages, arguing the plaintiff was constrained by the Oregon Tort Claims Act limitation of $100,000 for a claim arising out of a single act or occurrence and $300,000 for any number of claims arising out of a single occurrence. The court agreed with the defendants that there was one claimant and the motion was granted. The case lost two-thirds of its already inadequate potential value. This was but a warmup for defendants’ next motion. Defendants filed a demurrer2 seeking dismissal on the grounds there was no “special relationship” to imply a legal duty on the part of the county, the harm was not foreseeable and the acts of the juveniles were a superseding cause of the death of Officer Christensen. The demurrer was granted and the case, already diminished, was dismissed. GENE HALLMAN graduated from Willamette University College of Law in 1974 and, after a clerkship with the Oregon Supreme Court, practiced trial and appellate law in Pendleton. He joined OTLA in 1976 and was named the OTLA Distinguished Trial Lawyer in 2019. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and former state chair in the American Board of Trial Advocates. He now serves as a mediator in state and federal court through Hallman Mediation, Pendleton. You can reach him at [email protected]. 48 Trial Lawyer | Fall 2024
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