A legal battle involving the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has reached a significant conclusion, leaving the plaintiff's efforts to revive his case thwarted. Briand Williams filed a complaint against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on April 30, 2021. The case was ultimately dismissed due to procedural missteps and missed deadlines.
Williams' lawsuit faced an early setback when he failed to serve any defendants or appear at the initial case management conference on August 31, 2021. Consequently, on September 28, 2021, the court issued an order to show cause for dismissal due to failure to appear and prosecute. With no one present at this hearing either, the court dismissed the case that same day.
Undeterred, Williams sought to overturn this dismissal by filing a motion under section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure on August 5, 2022. However, his motion was denied on September 1, 2022, as it violated section 473’s six-month jurisdictional time limit. Judge Yolanda Orozco ruled that once this period lapses, courts lack the authority to grant relief under section 473.
Williams attempted another legal maneuver by filing a motion for reconsideration on September 14, 2022. This too was denied on October 6, 2022. The court emphasized that motions for reconsideration require new facts or law that could not have been presented earlier—criteria Williams failed to meet.
In his appeal filed on October 6, 2022, Williams cited cases such as Lewis v. Superior Court (1985) and Loeb v. County of San Diego (2019), arguing they provided grounds for tolling or waiving section 473’s requirements. However, these cases were deemed irrelevant as they did not pertain directly to section 473 or involve situations comparable to Williams'.
The plaintiff's declaration detailed various hardships including mobility and vision impairments and homelessness which made attending court hearings challenging. He recounted an incident where he sustained head injuries from a car hatch accident in August 2021 leading to post-concussion syndrome diagnosed by Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
Despite these adversities and multiple medical appointments documented between August 2021 and August 2022 for issues ranging from fatigue to hyperlipidemia and chronic headaches—none matched the impossibility standard set by Lewis v. Superior Court where an attorney’s severe injuries rendered compliance with deadlines literally impossible.
Ultimately, Williams' medical conditions were acknowledged but did not justify his failure to adhere to procedural timelines required by law. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision without awarding costs since respondents did not file any briefing or make appearances.
Representing himself pro per., Briand Williams navigated through complex legal terrain but found no leniency within statutory limits governing civil procedure timelines. Judges Wiley, Grimes, and Viramontes concurred in affirming the dismissal under Case ID B323866.