Chen v. Herschel

Personal Injury

Los Angeles County

Superior Court Judge David L. Manning

$18 million

Jonathan Ritter

Plaintiff's Lawyers: Eldabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, Jonathan M. Ritter; Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, Joshua E. Ritter

Defense Lawyers: Horton, Oberrecht, Kirkpatrick & Martha, Kimberly S. Oberrecht; Freeburg & Nettels, Charles F. Nettels

Plaintiff's attorney Jonathan Ritter of Eldabe Ritter Trial Lawyers said the biggest obstacle in securing an $18 million verdict in a wrongful death lawsuit was getting into the trial evidence of the "outrageous conduct of the defendant."

The trial was not about fault over the auto accident that left one dead and another injured. A Malibu woman already acknowledged she was liable and that her negligence led to her crashing into a mother and daughter on a Los Angeles crosswalk in 2016.

The trial was about what happened following the incident. After defendant Nicole Herschel hit the pedestrians, she got out of her pickup, dragged the body of the mother to the curb and parked along an adjacent road in an effort to stage the scene, Ritter said.

She did not call 911 and later denied to authorities that she struck Yijing Chen, the surviving victim, and Hongfen Shen, her mother.

Joshua Ritter

"So how do you get in all this conduct?" Ritter asked. Chen v. Herschel, BC685291 (L.A. Super. Ct, filed Dec 4, 2017).

Ritter noticed the prior attorney on the case filed a generic wrongful death lawsuit with general negligence as the only cause of action. He said he decided to file a new complaint alleging other claims, including intentional infliction of emotional distress.

"The conduct of the defendant became relevant to the trial with that," he said. "The old attorney wouldn't be able to introduce evidence of the aftermath of the accident."

Noticing there were substantial criminal elements to Herschel's conduct, Jonathan Ritter recruited his brother, Joshua Ritter, to help with the case. He's a former prosecutor with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and now works as a criminal defense lawyer.

The brothers were successfully able to get into the trial evidence of Herschel's intent when she dragged Shen's body to the curb.

"Was she doing it to be a good Samaritan, or was it all part of a plan to conceal her involvement in the case?" Jonathan Ritter said. "We argued the latter and were able to show all of her lies to the police."

Herschel was the first witness to take the stand in the trial. Joshua Ritter said the defendant presented very empathetically to the jury since she was bawling through most of the proceedings.

That changed when Jonathan Ritter cross examined her. Taking a slow and patient approach, he was calm yet firm in his questioning.

"You can't just run out of the gate attacking someone," he said. "And once the police officers took the stand after, it really showed to everyone she was a liar."

The brothers were successfully able to convince the jury in January to award Chen $18 million, $5 million of which was for Chen having to see Herschel callously drag her mother's body.

The verdict has been appealed.

"It was an unfortunate nighttime accident with unusual facts and allegations surrounding the aftermath of the accident that resulted in aggravated liability and damages," said defense attorney Kimberly S. Oberrecht, a partner at Oberrecht, Kirkpatrick & Martha in an emailed statement.

-- Winston Cho