Alhambra : Judgment Is Overturned

A state appellate court has overturned a $6-million award to an Alhambra family whose 17-year-old son died after police detained him, thinking that he was under the influence of PCP.

An Alhambra Superior Court jury last year found that Alhambra officers were negligent in arresting Alexander Serwacki, who was found writhing on a neighbor’s lawn, the victim of a malformed blood vessel that had burst in his brain.

But the state Court of Appeal on July 17 ruled that the jury should have been informed that Serwacki suffered a blow to his head during a fight at school five days before his 1984 death, said Thomas J. Feeley, an attorney representing the city.

When the boy complained of a headache, a school nurse advised him to see a doctor, but he never did, Feeley said.

Bruce A. Broillet, who is representing the boy’s parents, contended that those facts had nothing to do with whether police were negligent in arresting Serwacki, rather than taking him to the hospital.

He said he was prepared to retry the case but is considering whether to first appeal to the state Supreme Court.