Facts

Timothy Herman filed suit against Margarito Cardiel in relation to a vehicular collision.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff alleged that on Feb. 13, 2011, he was driving on the I-15 freeway and fell asleep, which caused his car to spin and face the direction of oncoming traffic. Armando Solis saw this happen, pulled over his car, and ran to Herman's car across the freeway. Next, a vehicle operated by Cardiel crashed into Herman's car, propelling the vehicle into Herman and Solis who fell into a ravine. Herman alleged claims against both Cardiel and Solis, but settled with Solis. As to Cardiel, plaintiff argued that he should have been paying attention and was not driving at a reasonable speed.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Cardiel argued that he was driving at a reasonable speed and that it was very difficult to see plaintiff's headlights on the freeway due to the darkness of the freeway and the angle of the headlights.

Settlement Discussions

The defense offered $15,000.

Injuries

Herman suffered a cerebral infarction, quadriplegia, tetraplegia and traumatic brain injury.

Result

The jury awarded Herman $57,947,402, which was decreased to $14,486,850.50 because Herman was found to be 75 percent liable.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Feb. 6, 2013.

Deliberation

two days

Poll

11-1 (negligence)

Length

19 days