Facts

On May 29, 2004, Gina Norris drove her Saturn sedan in excess of 75 miles per hour over a rise on eastbound State Route 138 and launched her car in the air. According to a witness, the car went airborne, landed, turned sharply to the right and went off the road. The car rolled over multiple times landing on its roof, resulting in the death of plaintiff's teenage daughters. The driver admitted that her act was intentional and that with encouragement from her passengers, she tried and succeeded in getting her car to fly through the air. The plaintiffs sued State of California, Department of Transportation (Caltrans) alleging that the road was a dangerous condition of public property.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended that the road was dangerous and that Caltrans should have fixed the road or warned of the dangerous condition before the accident.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant contended that the road was not dangerous when used with due care and in a manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiffs demanded $10 million each. The defendant offered $250,000 each.

Specials in Evidence

$25,000 (Melissa Clark). None presented

Injuries

Death of Patricia Seymour, 17, and Erick Smith, 16. Melissa Clark suffered minor injuries.

Result

The jury awarded damages totaling $14,125,000 ($7 million to Christine Seymour; $7 million to Sandra Moorer; and $125,000 to Melissa Clark). The jury found the driver 54 percent at fault, Caltrans 43 percent at fault and the passengers each 1 percent negligent. The net judgment was $3,010,000 for Christine Seymour, $3,010,000 for Sandra Moorer, and $67,750 for Melissa Clark, for a total of $6,087,750. During closing arguments, attorneys for Caltrans offered $4 million to settle the case. The parties agreed to a high-low, with a low of $2 million and a high of $9 million. The parties waived the right to appeal and agreed to pay the verdict within 30 days.

Other Information

This was a retrial of a case that was originally tried before Judge Larry Allen in Victorville. Judge Allen granted a mistrial during the first trial on his own motion. The plaintiffs filed a challenge for cause against Judge Allen, which was denied. While plaintiffs' petition for writ of mandate was pending before the Supreme Court, the case was transferred to Judge Michael Sachs, who informed the parties that he disliked one of plaintiffs' expert witnesses. The plaintiffs then filed their C.C.P. 170.6 motion, which was denied. The plaintiffs sought writ of mandate and the writ was granted. The case was transferred to the Hon. Gilbert Ochoa and was tried to verdict.

Deliberation

two days

Poll

12-0 (all issues); 9-3 (on apportionment)

Length

four weeks