Family files claim over teen's death after a rave

LA Times ^ | January 3, 2011

[La Lydia]

The parents of 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, who died of an ecstasy overdose after attending a rave, have filed a claim against the management of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The parents are seeking $5 million in damages from the Coliseum Commission. The claim, filed Dec. 23 with both the city and county of Los Angeles, is a necessary step before suing in court. The claim says the commission, a joint state, city and county board, did not fulfill its "duties and was negligent in creating and/or allowing others to create a dangerous condition of public property" during the two-day Electric Daisy Carnival rave at the Coliseum in June.

Sasha Rodriguez, a high school student and drill team member from Atwater Village, was able to get into the event despite the 16-and-over age requirement advertised by Los Angeles-based Insomniac Events, the producer of the rave. Those under 16 needed a parent or guardian to attend, according to the event's website. Sasha attended with friends; her parents have said they did not know she was going to a rave. She died days after falling into a coma after attending the rave.

The Coliseum "knew, or should have known, that the rave would attract, promote, encourage, facilitate and enable widespread illegal and illicit activity, including but not limited to the possession, sale and consumption of illicit drugs," the claim says....

The Electric Daisy Carnival rave, which drew 185,000 people over two days, resulted in 120 people being taken to local hospitals, mostly for drug intoxication. Coliseum managers said there were no major problems at subsequent raves Aug. 21 and Oct. 23, which attracted 6,000 and 22,000 people, respectively. A New Year's Eve rave, Together as One, at the Sports Arena resulted in 25 arrests and 17 hospitalizations....

[dayglored]

> Do not take the brown acid, I repeat ?dica nworb eht ton od. Look! In the sky! What the frak is that thing? Sorry, nevermind.

That was exactly my first thought too -- here we are, 40+ years after Woodstock, and people STILL haven't learned not to take the brown acid.

Whether it was acid, ecstasy, or electrolyte imbalance, it was lack of common sense that did her in. Sad, but predictable.

"DTTBA" needs to be a t-shirt slogan.

[Valpal1]

Honestly, the longer I live, it seems some people come to conservatism as a reasoned response to the world; but some latch on to it because they mistakenly identify it as a philosophy akin to their own well established arrogance and deficiency of heart.

Very cogent observation. Those are the "every man for themselves" libertarians; they don't play well with others.