Applying CCP Section 12, Day After Tolling Ends Is Not Included In Calculating Limitations Period

The California Supreme Court affirmed a court of appeal decision. The court held that in cases where the statute of limitations is tolled, the first day after tolling ends is not included in determining whether an action is timely filed.

A City of Fontana police officer allegedly shot and killed Luis Shalabi's father on May 14, 2012, when Shalabi was 17 years old. Shalabi turned 18 on December 3, 2011. Two years later, on December 3, 2013, Shalabi filed suit against the city, the officer, and others for deprivation of civil rights under 42 U.S.C. §1983.
The trial court dismissed the complaint as untimely, finding that the applicable two-year statute of limitations required it be filed no later than December 2, 2013. The court of appeal reversed, holding that Shalabi's lawsuit was timely filed.

The California Supreme Court affirmed, holding that where, as here, a tolling provision suspends the running of a limitations period, the first day after tolling ends is not included in calculating whether an action is timely filed. Under Code Civ. Proc. §12, the "time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day, and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded." Absent a clear expression of legislative intent that a different rule should apply when a statute of limitations is tolled, the rule set forth in §12 must be applied. Here, Shalabi's 18th birthday was the first day he could bring his lawsuit. As the court of appeal held, under §12, that day, December 3, 2011, needed to be excluded in calculating the two-year limitations period.

Shalabi v. City of Fontana, July 12, 2021