CVN screenshot of defense attorney Joshua Bordin-Wosk delivering his closing argument
Long Beach, CA - A California state court jury has spared a casino's private security staff from having to pay any damages in a wrongful death trial over a restraint hold used on an intoxicated patron, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The Los Angeles County jury returned their verdict on July 9 in a trial that began on June 17. While they found the security staff negligent the jury also determined their actions were not a substantial factor in the man's death.
The family of Jonathan Jung sued Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens in 2022 following his death claiming poorly trained security agents used excessive force to restrain him in a parking lot. His attorneys sought $132 million in damages, but the casino successfully argued that Jung died from methamphetamine toxicity.
The full trial was recorded and webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network. It is available for unlimited on-demand viewing as part of a monthly or annual video library subscription, which also includes hundreds of other civil trials featuring many of the top plaintiff and defense attorneys practicing today throughout California and the rest of the country.
Casino staff ordered Jung to leave after he began acting erratically at a gaming table. He exited to the parking lot where his attorneys maintain he attempted to get to his car and leave, but the defense argued he ran around the lot trying to evade security staff.
Multiple agents eventually restrained him, with one placing a knee directly on Jung’s back, and his attorneys told jurors the dangerous maneuver caused him to suffocate in just three minutes. However the defense relied heavily during trial on the autopsy report from the county coroner, which they said showed the sole cause of his death was methamphetamine toxicity.
Attorney Minh Nguyen of Nguyen Theam Lawyers LLP, who represents the Jung family, told CVN his team would seek a new trial based on Judge Patrick Madden’s decision to reverse an earlier ruling barring any discussion at trial of Jung’s prior drug use or any drugs found in his car.
“This was the correct ruling in which we, as trial counsel, relied on in formulating our trial strategy and how to or not to address it during trial. After plaintiffs rested and during the defense case-in-chief, the Court reversed its decision to allow the introduction of drugs,” Nguyen said. “We lost credibility and the evidence clearly swayed the jury because the jury found that the guards’ conduct was negligent but their negligence did not cause Jonathan any harm which cannot be the case legally.”
Nguyen’s co-counsel, Terrence Jones of Cameron Jones LLP, concurred that the issue of methamphetamine use played a central role in swaying the jury.
“We were certainly pleased that the jury found that the casino was negligent, but the presence of drugs in Jonathan's bloodstream was apparently too much for the jury to overcome in then arriving at a causation finding,” Jones told CVN.
Jones suggested race played a role in Jung’s death and lamented that hate crimes against Asians too often do not receive the same public attention as incidents involving other groups. He speculated the same incident involving an African-American victim would draw more outrage.
“I suspect his death would have garnered broader coverage and scrutiny --- and particularly from the L.A. County District Attorney's Office,” Jones said.
Despite the outcome Nguyen expressed hope the case brought more public focus to the important issue of the need to train security guards about the danger of restraint asphyxiation, and he struck an optimistic tone regarding his upcoming post-verdict motions.
“We look forward to retrying this case,” he said.
The casino's attorneys, Joshua Bordin-Wosk and Bryan Aghakhani of Bordin Semmer LLP, declined to comment on the verdict.
The case is captioned The Estate of Jonathan Jung v. The Bicycle Casino Inc., case number 22STCV21242 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
