County loses round in case of deputy killing his wife

ALPINE — The parents of an Alpine woman who are suing San Diego County over their daughter’s death at the hands of her husband, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, have won a key ruling in a federal appeals court.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came in a lawsuit filed by Jim and Kay Maxwell against the county and eight sheriff’s deputies. Their daughter, Kristin Maxwell-Bruce, was shot in the face by her husband, Lowell Bruce, on Dec. 14, 2006, in an argument over household chores.

She died about 50 minutes after the shooting in an ambulance, whose departure was delayed by deputies who came to the Bruce home in Alpine.

The county Medical Examiner’s Officer later determined that Maxwell-Bruce’s wound was survivable if she had made it to a hospital sooner.

The appeals court panel on Thursday upheld a 2010 ruling by a San Diego federal court judge that said the deputies and the county did not have legal immunity for their actions that night.

That’s a key decision because under the law police officers and sheriff’s deputies are granted wide latitude from being held liable for actions they take while carrying out their duties.

It also raised the potential financial liability for the county, which has vigorously defended the suit since it was filed 4½ years ago. The county could ask a larger panel of the appeals court to rehear the case or seek review at the U.S. Supreme Court.

A county spokesman declined to comment on the ruling Friday because the lawsuit is still pending.

After Maxwell-Bruce was shot, a contingent of deputies arrived at the house. Bruce soon admitted shooting his wife and was arrested.

Then deputies sealed off the home, where the couple lived with their two children, then ages 4 and 7, and Maxwell-Bruce’s parents.

Deputies had Kay Maxwell and her two grandchildren remain in a motor home on the property, separated from her husband, Jim. After learning his daughter was dead, he tried to get to the motor home to tell his wife.

That’s when a deputy sprayed him with pepper spray, struck him with a baton and handcuffed him. He was released about a half-hour later, and never faced criminal charges.

Daniel Benjamin, the Maxwells’ lawyer, said the parents were “extremely pleased” with last week’s ruling.

“The family looks forward now to having their day in court and putting these facts before a jury,” Benjamin said. “We think it’s important the court recognized that what the deputies did that night was illegal and unconstitutional.”

The panel also held that the paramedics, who were from the Viejas Fire Department, could be held individually liable for their action.

When he ruled against the county and the eight deputies, U.S. District Judge John Houston removed the paramedics from the suit, citing the tribe’s immunity as an Indian nation.

In the recent appeals court ruling, Judge Sandra Ikuta dissented.

Ikuta said the deputies should have immunity because separating witnesses was not unreasonable at a crime scene, and the delay of the ambulance was only a few minutes.

The panel’s decision is the latest turn in the controversial shooting.

Bruce — at first charged with murder — pleaded guilty in El Cajon Superior Court to the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, which came with a maximum 15-year prison term.

That plea bargain with the District Attorney’s Office sparked resistance from two judges. One said it looked as if Bruce was getting favorable treatment because he was a deputy, and the second wanted the discretion to sentence him to a longer or shorter sentence.

The 15-year sentence was eventually ordered, and Bruce is serving it at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe in Riverside County.