Rivas v. Ayala

This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment for defendant in a personal injury action.

Facts

Sometime between 12 midnight and 2 a. m. of May 3, 1960, at the Apache Café, San Bernardino, California, an altercation occurred between plaintiff, Luis Perea Rivas, age 34, weight 215, a cook’s helper, and defendant Arnulfo Ayala, age 70, weight 165, a retired Santa Fe railroad worker. While the broad outlines of what happened are not in dispute, the exact details of how the altercation started in the café and who the aggressor was after they left the café are in sharp conflict. Because where such…