Facts

On Jan. 3, 2009, plaintiffs Thomas Treshler and Qiong Treshler were driving a 2500 series Dodge truck at State Route 108 east of Pinecrest Lake Road. Defendant Gurax Dhillon was driving a Nissan Altima with her two children to Sonora to go sledding. At a certain point in time, it began to snow heavily. Dhillon decided to turn around and return home. Entering a blind curve, she attempted to make a three point U-turn. Treshlers' vehicle approached the blind curve traveling at approximately 20-25 mph. From a distance of approximately 40-50 feet, Thomas saw Defendant's vehicle in the roadway and applied his brakes. His brakes locked up and left skid marks between 5-10 feet long. Thomas testified that his vehicle had slowed down from the time he applied his brakes and the impact. The front end of Treshlers' truck broadsided the passenger side of Defendant's vehicle. Treshlers' airbags did not deploy. The California Highway Patrol arrived at the scene of the accident. The officer asked Plaintiffs if they needed an ambulance or medical attention or were injured and needed medical attention. Both said no. The officer indicated in the collision report that this was a "non-injury" accident. Treshlers' vehicle was drivable from the scene. Upon departing the accident scene, the Treshlers drove home.

Defendant stipulated to liability, but not to cause and extent of injury.

Settlement Discussions

The parties attended mediation and two mandatory settlement conferences. Plaintiffs demanded $100,000 policy limits. Defendant offered $10,000 to settle, and served a pre-trial CCP 998 in the sum of $10,001. Plaintiffs never countered from their policy limits demand.

Specials in Evidence

$12,000 $122,000

Injuries

Qiong Treshler did not make a claim for personal injuries, but only a claim for loss of consortium. She claimed that the injuries her husband received caused him to become irritable, which eventually led to their separation. Thomas claimed that he sustained injuries to his back and neck pain. He sought treatment three days after the accident. The diagnosis was chest pain (primary encounter diagnosis.) There was no diagnosis given for back pain, nor were diagnostic studies taken of the back. He did not treat again until June 30, 2009 when he sought treatment from a chiropractor. He did not seek treatment from a medical doctor until Jan. 18, 2010. An MRI was taken of his lower back on Feb. 10, 2010, which shows a herniated disc at L4-5. Thomas had two accidents prior to the Jan. 3, 2009 accident, and three MRI studies conducted in 2003, 2004 and 2005, all of which showed an L4-5 disc herniation. The February 2010 MRI showed no new damage from the 2005 MRI. Thomas claimed that the Jan. 3, 2009 accident caused or exacerbated the L4-5 herniation, which required fusion surgery. Defendant contended that the accident did not cause Thomas' L4-5 herniation because it pre-existed the January 2009 accident, and that no new damage was found in the 2010 MRI scan. Plaintiff's expert, Dr. Paul Slosar testified that the 2009 accident caused the L4-5 disc herniation, but this was based solely on the 2010 MRI study. Dr. Slosar was unaware of the prior studies. Defendant contended at trial that Dr. Slosar's opinions were baseless and asked the jury to reject his testimony in its entirety.

Result

Defense verdict. The jury found that Defendant was not the cause of Plaintiff's claimed injuries.

Other Information

Qiong Treshler is in pro per. FILING DATE: Nov. 22, 2010.

Deliberation

1.5 hours

Poll

11-1

Length

three days