Facts

Alberto Acevedo filed a complaint against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. and Victor Figueroa in relation to a car accident.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff alleged that on Jan. 22, 2012, he was in his pickup truck when a police car driven by Victor Figueroa crashed into the back of his car, causing plaintiff's car to spin and stop in a driveway. Plaintiff claimed that defendant drove negligently and that LASD should be liable as well. Also, plaintiff alleged that his vehicle was parked at the curb due to overheating and defendant should have been paying attention.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants argued that Figueroa was putting information into a mobile digital terminal in his police car when he observed plaintiff's parked car. He asserted that he tried to move left but could not stop the collision.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiff made a demand for $350,000 and the defense offered $200,000.

Damages

Plaintiff asked for $1,873,000 in damages, which consisted of $248,000 in past medicals, $275,000 in past non-economic damages, $100,000 in future medical costs, and $1.25 million in future non-economic costs.

Injuries

Plaintiff claimed he suffered a lumbar disc protrusion, thoracic disc protrusion, and herniated disc at T12-L1. He underwent decompression surgery, epidural injections, and trigger point injection.

Result

The jury awarded plaintiff $130,000.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Aug. 16, 2012.

Length

nine days