Bottles were reportedly thrown into a festival crowd, injuring nine bystanders. Determining who may be legally responsible requires looking beyond the actions of the people who started the dispute.
At 1:40 on Sunday morning, music was still carrying through Palm Springs.
For thousands of people attending Splash House, the night was supposed to be an escape: electronic music, hotel pools and a festival atmosphere that has drawn crowds to the desert for more than a decade.
Then a dispute escalated.
According to a report published by Patch, bottles were thrown into the crowd during an altercation involving an unknown number of people. Nine bystanders—none of whom authorities said were involved in the original dispute—suffered minor injuries from broken glass.
Two people were treated at the scene. Seven were taken to a hospital.
Police officers working the festival responded, additional officers arrived and the area was secured. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact the Palm Springs Police Department.
That is where the public account ends.
For the people who were injured, however, the questions may only be beginning.
The People Who Started the Fight May Not Be the Only Part of the Story
The most immediate responsibility appears to belong to whoever threw the bottles. If those individuals are identified, they could face criminal consequences and potential civil liability for the harm they caused.
But a civil investigation may need to examine more than the actions of the people involved in the confrontation.
Large festivals bring together crowds, alcohol, multiple venues, late-night programming and constantly changing conditions. Organizers and property operators are not automatically responsible whenever one guest harms another. They are also not automatically removed from the legal inquiry simply because the injury began with someone else’s misconduct.
Under California Civil Code section 1714, people and businesses are generally responsible for injuries caused by a lack of ordinary care in managing their property or conduct.
California’s civil jury instructions also recognize that a business open to the public may have a duty to use reasonable care to protect patrons from another person’s harmful conduct when that type of conduct could reasonably have been anticipated.
Whether that principle applies to a particular festival injury depends entirely on the evidence.
What Should a Festival-Injury Investigation Examine?
A police report is an important starting point, but it may not answer all the questions relevant to an injured attendee’s civil rights.
A thorough investigation could examine:
- How bottles or other potentially dangerous objects entered the venue
- Whether the containers were sold or distributed inside the event
- What security screening procedures were in place
- How many security personnel were assigned to the affected area
- Whether security staff observed the confrontation developing
- How long the dispute continued before intervention
- Whether earlier disturbances or warning signs had been reported
- Whether similar incidents had occurred at this event or venue
- Whether crowd density made it difficult for bystanders to move to safety
- What surveillance, cellphone or security-camera footage exists
- Which companies controlled security, alcohol service and event operations
- Whether emergency and medical-response procedures were followed
The fact that bottles were present does not, by itself, prove that an organizer, hotel or security contractor was negligent. Nor does the fact that police were already working the event resolve whether the precautions taken by every responsible party were reasonable.
Those conclusions require evidence.
And at a temporary event, that evidence can disappear particularly quickly.
The Festival Ends. Evidence Does Not Wait.
Stages come down. Temporary barriers are removed. Vendors leave. Security teams complete their reports and move on to the next assignment.
Digital evidence can be just as temporary. Surveillance recordings may be overwritten. Social-media videos may be deleted. Witnesses who traveled from across Southern California may become difficult to locate. Contracts identifying which company controlled a particular part of the event may not be available to an injured attendee.
Meanwhile, an insurance company may ask for a recorded statement or medical authorization before the injured person understands who is insured, what coverage may exist or how the injury will affect them over time.
Someone who was struck by glass should not be expected to untangle a network of festival organizers, venue operators, security contractors and insurers alone.
This is where experience becomes important.
Traut Firm Knows How to Uncover Responsibility in Complex Injury Cases
Traut Firm has represented injured people throughout Southern California for more than 45 years. The firm handles serious personal-injury and dangerous-property cases involving businesses, property operators, contractors and other parties whose decisions may have contributed to an unsafe condition.
These cases rarely arrive in a neat package.
One company may own the property. Another may operate the venue. A promoter may control the festival. A separate contractor may provide security. Still another business may oversee alcohol service or crowd management.
Each may have different responsibilities, contracts, insurance policies and evidence.
Traut Firm’s attorneys work to identify those relationships and follow the evidence through them. That may involve preserving video, obtaining incident reports, reviewing contracts and security plans, interviewing witnesses, consulting appropriate experts and determining what the responsible parties knew—or should have known—before someone was hurt.
The firm’s published results include a $2,554,740 verdict involving an injury at Disneyland, a $1 million settlement involving an improperly secured gate and a $2.25 million verdict arising from a fatal electrocution, where the initial offer had been $20,000.
Every matter turns on its own facts, and past results cannot guarantee a future outcome. These cases nevertheless show Traut Firm’s experience investigating injuries connected to commercial properties, safety failures and multiple potentially responsible parties.
Experience Brings Clarity to a Confusing Process
After an incident like the one reported at Splash House, an injured person may hear several competing explanations:
The individual who threw the bottle is solely responsible.
Security could not have prevented the dispute.
The injury was minor.
The festival had police present, so reasonable precautions must have been taken.
None of those statements should substitute for an investigation.
A seemingly minor glass injury can require stitches, leave permanent scarring, damage an eye or cause lasting emotional distress. Some symptoms may not be fully understood on the night of the incident. Compensation in a valid injury claim may include medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and permanent disability or disfigurement.
Knowing what happened is only one part of the process. An experienced attorney must also connect the facts to the law, identify available insurance coverage and document the complete effect of the injury.
Traut Firm has navigated those waters before.
James and Taylor Traut work together on the firm’s cases, supported by an experienced legal team. The firm limits the number of matters it accepts so it can investigate each one carefully, communicate directly with clients and prepare every case as though it may ultimately be presented in court.
That preparation matters when businesses and insurers begin pointing responsibility at one another.
Safety Is Part of the Ticket
People attending a music festival understand that crowds will be loud, busy and unpredictable. They do not consent to being struck by flying glass.
Event organizers and property operators cannot prevent every spontaneous act. The legal question is whether the people responsible for operating the event took reasonable precautions in light of the risks they could anticipate.
Answering that question requires more than assumptions. It requires footage, records, witnesses, contracts and a clear understanding of how the event was supposed to be managed.
For the nine people reportedly injured at Splash House, those answers may be important long after the music stops.
Injured at a Festival or Southern California Venue?
If you were injured by broken glass, crowd violence or inadequate safety measures at a festival, hotel, nightclub or other event, speaking with an attorney promptly can help preserve evidence and protect your rights.
Traut Firm offers free consultations and handles qualifying personal-injury cases on a contingency-fee basis. Attorney fees are collected only if the firm obtains a recovery for the client.
Call Traut Firm at (714) 835-7000 or contact the firm online to discuss what happened.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. The existence of an injury does not establish negligence, and every claim depends on its particular facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.