Top Plaintiffs' Verdict by Impact: Guilmette v. City of Los Angeles

After Tom Guilmette, a 59-year-old Northrop Grumman rocket scientist, died when his motorcycle struck a car that had entered traffic on a busy San Pedro avenue, his widow sued the city of Los Angeles. Thomas J. Johnston and Donald G. Liddy argued on behalf of their client that the victim would not have died if the city had followed through on longstanding plans to upgrade the intersection where the accident took place.

Johnston and Liddy brought in four witnesses from the neighborhood who said they had been complaining for years that someone would get hurt. Liddy said residents of northwest San Pedro had told officials that the blind corner at Summerland and Cabrillo Avenues was dangerous, but the city was "not responsive." "It's a very significant judgment against the city," Liddy said.

The trial turned on two key moments. One was Liddy's cross-examination of the city's traffic expert witness, who testified there was no good reason for shelving a plan that had long been in place to make the intersection safer. "That cross was a powerful moment," Johnston said. "I saw frustration the jurors' faces."

The other decisive event was Johnston's examination of Guilmette's widow. "She said that when Tom left that day to bike to work, she was busy and did not say goodbye. That was a hard thing for her. I said, 'Please say goodbye now.' She did. She told him how much she missed him and what a wonderful husband he was. It was a heavy moment with tears throughout the courtroom. It went to show the magnitude of her loss. And more than tears, it was the honest feeling of authentic emotion."

Further stressing the extent of Tom Guilmette's loss, Liddy and Johnston brought to court his supervisor at work, who told how Guilmette was working on a replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope. "He said Tom was simply irreplaceable," Johnston said. "That went to his future earnings capability." The jury was unanimous and the trial judge affirmed the verdict.

The outcome was the largest known wrongful death verdict on a dangerous condition case in Los Angeles County, Johnston said, adding that the city has paid it. He predicted it will make the city safer by emphasizing the importance of responding to community complaints — or face the consequences in court.

"The jury was out two full days," he said. "I was biting my nails. We said a little prayer and hoped for the best. At least one juror gave Ms. Guilmette a little hug on the way out of court."

— John Roemer