Steven Ellison, et al. v. County of San Diego
Published: Nov. 19, 2002 | Result Date: Oct. 2, 2002 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: GIE006455 – $0
Judge
Court
San Diego Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Ed J. Ruzak
(technical)
W.R. Rusty Haight
(technical)
Defendant
Edward Phillips
(technical)
Marceline Burns
(technical)
David A. Casteel
(technical)
Weston S. Pringle
(technical)
Facts
The case involved the death of one pedestrian, Stephen Bazdorf, aged 21, and the serious injuries to two other
pedestrians, Stephen Ellison and Robert Lawson, aged 21 and 22 respectively. The three pedestrians walked
down Winter Gardens Boulevard in Lakeside and were struck by a drunk driver. Although a five-foot dirt
walkway had been planned for the subject area in roadway construction plans that had been approved in 1966,
only a dirt path of varying widths (one to three feet) existed at the accident location as of the date of the
accident, May 5, 2000.
The drunk driver was originally a defendant but settled with the plaintiffs on the eve of
the trial for her insurance policy limits. Pacific Bell was also a defendant on the grounds that the
location of their telephone poll within the dirt path forced the pedestrians to step into the bicycle
lane to get around the pole. Pacific Bell also settled with the plaintiffs.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs did not submit any offers on the defendant County.
Specials in Evidence
$200,000 (Ellison); $100,000 (Lawson) The plaintiffs each claimed in excess of $500,000 for loss of earning.
Injuries
The two surviving pedestrians had severe orthopedic injuries. Ellison suffered disruption of left axillary vein and artery, comminuted open fracture bilateral tibia and fibula, fracture of left glenoid with neuro deficit and artery disruption, fracture of the right acetabulum. Lawson suffered comminuted fracture right humerus, comminuted fracture left tibia and fibula, comminuted fracture left ankle, lacerated artery in the right arm, injury to discs in low back and cervical spine.
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