5DCA Oral Argument - 2026/09/09 - Sep 09, 2026
argument5DCA Oral Argument - 2026/09/09
California Fifth District Court of Appeal
3h 3m
8 chapters
transcribed 12 days ago
official recording ↗
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What is the central dispute over the assumption‑of‑risk instruction in the Izaguirre case?
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Good morning. Please be seated. Nice to see everyone. Let's call the first matter of, and I'm not going to do justice to the name, but I will try, Izaguirre versus Clovis Unified School District. Please state your appearances.
Lindsay Russell for
. Anthony Demaria for respondent, Clovis Unified School District, and Coach King.
Thank you very much. And I believe you've requested 25 minutes? That is correct. And did you wish to reserve some portion of that?
Yes, Your Honor. I'd like to reserve 10 minutes.
OK. We'll watch the clock and ask that you do the same. You've requested 30, I believe? Yes, Your Honor. Very well. And we're very familiar with the facts of this case. And we just ask that you keep that in mind during your argument. And with that said, please proceed.
Good morning, Your Honors. My name is Lindsay Russell. And in this case, I have had the pleasure of representing the plaintiff and appellant, Joseph Yazagiri, both in the appeal as well as trial counsel. We are here today because it is appellant's position that the trial court improperly applied and instructed the jury on the issue of assumption of risk. both on applying the doctrine as a whole, as well as in the alternative, if the court does find that assumption of risk applies. It is appellant's position that the court improperly instructed on option one instead of option two, which would be unreasonably increase the risk. Now, I'm going to deal with them one at a time, first dealing with the first position of that the trial court improperly applied assumption of risk.
Here, as the court is well aware, Joseph Yazagiri was a seventh grader who was participating in physical education class when he was injured by his coach, Coach King, who was a defendant in this case. Now, under the case Nigel B, it is very similar to the case that we have before us. In Nigel B, he was an eighth grader participating in physical education class when he was injured by another student playing a game of touch football. And the court, in deciding whether assumption of risk applied, it was raised by defendants. And ultimately, the court decided assumption of risk did not apply. And the issue after trial was appealed. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal determined that because the plaintiff was participating in a compulsory physical education class, meaning that he fell within Education Code 48-200,
that this was not a voluntary participation in the matter and therefore assumption of risk should not apply. That was thoroughly outlined in our briefing and as here it is plaintiff's position and appellant's position that Nigel B would be the applicable case and that assumption of risk should not have been applied to Joseph Yazagiri's case. He, again, was participating in his physical education class. And while defendants and respondents have repeatedly asserted that because Joseph Yazagiri chose to participate in basketball PE instead of the general physical education class for seventh graders, that this would somehow take him out of the compulsory physical education requirement. And therefore, assumption of risk should apply because he chose basketball.
However, the testimony at trial established from defendants' own witnesses, multiple witnesses, and those citations are in our brief, that the basketball PE class fulfilled the requirements for physical education. Joseph Yazagiri was not required to take an additional physical education class. He could fulfill those requirements of a seventh grader under Education Code 5100. and 51222 by taking basketball PE. Also, the defense's witnesses at trial further testified that on the transcript, the basketball PE class was also referred to or was referred to as strength and conditioning. It was not identified as basketball PE on the transcripts. Under the case of Hamadi versus Long Beach, in that case, the court specifically addressed whether a student's choice of a PE class takes it out of compulsory education.
In that class, a seventh grader, similar to Joseph in her choice of physical education class, had chose a golf class instead of a general PE class.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central dispute over the assumption‑of‑risk instruction in the Izaguirre case?
0:08–40:44
2
How do the parties argue whether the basketball PE class was voluntary or compulsory under the Education Code?
40:44–53:14
3
Why does counsel claim the trial court’s jury instruction on assumption of risk was improper?
53:14–1:12:22
4
What precedent cases (Nigel B, Hamadi, Arias) are cited to support the plaintiff’s position on compulsory education?
1:12:22–1:30:22
5
How does the discussion shift to the statutory interpretation of mental‑health diversion under Penal Code §1054.3 and §1001.36?
1:30:22–1:51:55
6
What are the key arguments about the scope of “mental state” versus “mental disorder” in diversion proceedings?
1:51:55–2:14:33
7
How does the court evaluate CalGEM’s CEQA exemption analysis for the San Joaquin injection‑well project?
2:14:33–2:36:13
8
What relief does the petitioner seek and why does counsel argue the agency abused its discretion?
2:36:13–3:03:35