Alana M. v. State of California
Annotate this CaseAlana, three years old, was camping with her family in Portola Redwoods State Park when a tree fell on their tent and hit her head, resulting in brain damage. Alana sued. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the state. The court of appeal affirmed, citing Government Code section 831.2, which provides no public entity “is liable for an injury caused by a natural condition of any unimproved public property.” The tree that caused her injury was a “natural condition” and the tree was on “unimproved public property.” Improvement of a portion of a park area does not remove the immunity from the unimproved areas. The nearest man-made object to the tree before it fell was a picnic table at Campsite 42, which was about 30 feet away. There is no evidence of any artificial physical change in the condition of the tree that injured Alana or of the land within 24 feet of the tree. Nor is there any evidence suggesting artificial improvements or human conduct contributed to the danger of the tree.
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