Facts

On Jan. 9, 2013, around noon, plaintiff Camille Carter, a 69-year-old retired nurse and part-time Santa Barbara resident, was walking south on De La Vina Street, when she tripped and fell on a cracked and unlevel piece of sidewalk at or near 1922 De la Vina St near Mission Street. Plaintiff reported that there were no visual obstructions to the sidewalk, and that she had a general familiarity with the area, as she would regularly walk on that stretch of sidewalk to visit her beauty salon.

Plaintiff sued the City of Santa Barbara and the adjacent property owner of 1922 De la Vina Street, claiming she sustained injuries as a result of the accident.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff claimed that the deteriorated sidewalk was a dangerous condition of public property within the meaning of Government Code section 835. She claimed that the city had constructive notice of this dangerous condition due to its size and longstanding nature. She also asserted that, since the city performed a number of street repairs in the vicinity of this particular defect, they knew or should have known about this specific defect.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The city and 1922 De La Vina LLC denied liability, contending that the sidewalk at the time of the accident was not a dangerous condition of public property as the defect was trivial. The city denied that it had notice of any prior claims or accidents at the location of plaintiff's fall. There were no records of prior accidents or repairs at the location of the accident.

Defendant 1922 De La Vina argued that the missing piece of concrete was on defendant city's sidewalk, and that it did nothing to cause the sidewalk to deteriorate.

Settlement Discussions

In August 2014, plaintiff's attorneys made a settlement demand of $2 million from the city and $1 million from the adjacent landowner. In November 2014 plaintiff demanded $350,000, and then in March 2015 they reduced their demand to $175,000. In September 2014, the city responded with a $25,000 CCP 998 offer.

Damages

Medical records show that plaintiff received more than $150,000 of medical bills, of which more than $35,000 of the past medical bills were submitted to the jury as paid.

Injuries

Plaintiff claimed a closed head injury, resulting in two separate hospitalizations, and a burr hole surgery to her head to relieve intra-cranial bleeding. Plaintiff claimed that she continues to suffer from memory difficulty, sleep problems, anxiety and permanent use of a cane. Treating physician Philip Delio, M.D., testified that plaintiff would have to learn to live with her deficits. Defense expert David G.N. Frecker, M.D., testified that plaintiff's present complaints are age related.

Result

Defense verdict.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Dec. 2, 2013.

Deliberation

five hours

Poll

10-2 (no dangerous condition of public property)

Length

seven days