Neighbors like Craig Perry still remember the day it happened…
“I didn’t see the actual attack but when I got on the street, he was on the street bleeding," Perry recalled.
Over seven years ago, Alex Geiger, a former Grover Beach police officer, was criminally charged and later found not guilty in connection with a deadly dog attack along Nacimiento Avenue that killed 64-year-old David Fear and seriously injured 86-year-old Betty Long.
The Long and Fear families filed a lawsuit against the city of Exeter where Geiger previously worked and had trained his dog as a police K9.
After years of litigation and a weeks-long civil trial in 2021, the city was found liable for the death of Fear and injuries to Long, awarding $20.8 million to the families.
The jury found the police chief and canine unit supervisor negligent for not warning Geiger that the dog couldn't unlearn its attack training and would remain dangerous.
But this January, the Court of Appeal overruled that decision, leaving the families devastated.
“We’re just all saddened with the reversal and hope we can move forward," said Diane McKenna, one of Long’s daughters.
McKenna says her mother died last year and agrees with Fear’s daughter, Sarah Gianquinto, and other family members that justice has not been served.
“I mean it was devastating that no one wants to take any accountability for this horrific savage death that my dad experienced,” Gianquinto said.
“We feel like there's no closure," said Neil McCalin, Long's stepson. "There's no accountability. Where's the responsibility?”
“Justice needs to be served and it's just completely like they're just exhausting the resources and they can't go like, like almost like ten years," said Steven Fear, David Fear's son. "Just do what you said you were going to do, so we can have closure.”
Neil Tardiff, a certified appellate specialist in San Luis Obispo went over the 23-page Court of Appeal Opinion piece with KSBY and shared his viewpoint.
"I think it's very shocking, actually, from an appellate standpoint, because the Court of Appeal held that there was no duty on the part of the supervisor or the chief, and that's very unusual to have a ruling like that after a trial has already occurred," Tardiff said.
He explained, "The court of appeal’s opinion felt that there was no adequate special relationship between the supervisor and the owner of the dog, meaning there was no special relationship and no duty. Even if there were a special relationship under Public Policy, they do not feel like the supervisor and the chief should be liable in these kinds of situations.”
As for the families, they say they were just as surprised by the reversal and are seeking to bring the case to the California Supreme Court.
”We can't reverse what's happened to David Fear or to Betty Long. That's history, and we can't change that," McCalin said. "But maybe there can be some changes that would endure future events that this would not happen.”
The Longs' attorney, Jacqueline Frederic, says the process of taking the case to the Supreme Court could take up to a year.
“This is a very important case. The safety of the public is something that, from a public policy standpoint, should be paramount," Frederic said.
According to Grover Beach city officials, they were previously cleared of any responsibility in the incident and have no further comments on the matter.
