Pop Culture & the Law: La Palma (Part 2)

La Palma’s “What Would You Do?” Scenes

Part of the fun of watching a disaster show is thinking about what you would do in a similar situation. As the threat of the tsunami increases with each episode, La Palma presents viewers with a series of “What would you do?” scenes.

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Spoilers ahead: come back and read later if you plan to watch La Palma and don’t want to know what happens. For background on the show, check out Pop Culture & the Law: La Palma (Part 1)

If you were a character in La Palma, what would you do if…

• Your new employee at the La Palma Geological Institute tells you that the island is at risk of falling into the sea and causing a catastrophic tsunami.

• You're a government official sworn to secrecy about the fact that the island your family is vacationing on is at risk of being destroyed. 

• You’re on the last boat off the island, when a woman clutching a baby rushes up begging for a seat.

• Your family needs to get to the ferry to escape a tsunami and there are no taxis but there is a truck with the keys in it.

• You’re about to get on a boat to Tenerife and possible safety when a person with a gun orders you off the boat.

• You are handling a natural disaster for the government and some random guy walks in and says he is an expert on waves.

• You’re a government official on an island that depends on tourism and a scientist (who was wrong before) tells you to evacuate the island.

• You are a prison guard on an island with an active volcano eruption. The prisoners demand to be released and your coworker tells you that you have to flee to safety. What do you do with the keys to the cells?

• You’re a government official and your employee tells you that he has coordinates for a safe spot on the island the tsunami is about to hit.

I am purposefully omitting all of the decisions the teenage daughter makes in the show, because as discussed in Part One this show is not meant to be taken super seriously. 

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The Reasonable Person Standard 

A basic concept in tort law is that of the reasonable person. If a person does not act as a reasonable person would, they can be viewed as negligent. California courts have held that in most cases there is no fixed standard of care for tort liability more precise than that of a reasonably prudent person under like circumstances. Each case presents different conditions and situations. What would be ordinary care in one case might be negligence in another. See Coyle v. Historic Mission Inn Corp. (2018) 24 Cal.App.5th 627.

As we see in La Palma, there is a difference between morality and negligence. A personal sense of morality might motivate one to give up their seat on the boat to a woman and her baby. However, many reasonable people would likely not give up their seat on the boat taking them to safety. It would be hard to find the dad negligent if he kept his seat on the boat. 

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Can I break the law during a natural disaster? 

You may be wondering how an emergency like a tsunami affects the “reasonable person standard.” Perhaps, you might find yourself sympathetic with the dad who stole the car to get his family to the ferry on time.

In some situations, there will be a specific law that trumps the general “reasonable person standard.” In the case of auto theft, there is a law that would likely apply no matter how sympathetic or “reasonable” you might find the dad’s actions.

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Under California Penal Code 463, you may be charged with looting if you are arrested for auto burglary during a state of emergency such as a riot, earthquake, or other disaster. Looting can be penalized by a county jail sentence of up to 3 years.

What about the scientist trapped in the prison cell as the lava pours into the town? It is illegal to break out of jail, but it’s possible the scientist would have a defense. California recognizes the defense of necessity. The scientist would have had to prove that she broke out of jail to prevent significant bodily harm to herself and that she had no adequate legal alternative. Given the volcanic eruption and the emergency evacuation, it’s likely that the prisoners would have a valid defense. Although in the show, the island of La Palma is destroyed, we can assume that the prisoners would normally have to turn themselves back in after the natural disaster was over. 

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Leslie Hulburt is a co-founder of Hulburt Law Firm. She is an experienced trial attorney who has litigated cases against major corporations, manufacturers and government entities. In addition to the law, she has worked at the washingtonpost.com and as a garden teacher for elementary school students. These experiences give her a unique perspective on the most compelling way to present a case. Leslie finds inspiration in countless places, including movies, tv shows, books and podcasts. Pop Culture & the Law explores the ways our favorite entertainment can offer wisdom in the practice of law.

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