California Health and Safety Code 11710 – (a) An action by an individual user of an illegal controlled …
(a) An action by an individual user of an illegal controlled substance is governed by the principles of comparative responsibility. Comparative responsibility attributed to the plaintiff does not bar recovery but diminishes the award of compensatory damages proportionally, according to the measure of responsibility attributed to the plaintiff.
(b) The burden of proving the comparative responsibility of the plaintiff is on the defendant, which shall be shown by clear and convincing evidence.
Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 11710
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Individual user of an illegal controlled substance: means the individual whose use of a specified illegal controlled substance is the basis of an action brought under this division. See California Health and Safety Code 11703
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
(c) Comparative responsibility shall not be attributed to a plaintiff who is not an individual user of a controlled substance, unless that plaintiff willfully and knowingly gave the individual user money for the purchase of the illegal controlled substance.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 867, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1997.)