Facts

On April 2, 2010, Chelsea Caughran was driving home from work with passenger Jocelyn Hernandez when they were rear ended by a vehicle driven by Assistant District Attorney Marilyn Seymour on Pacific Coast Highway.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Seymour was driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of .26 – more than 3 times the legal limit and traveling at 70 miles per hour.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Seymour admitted liability for negligence, however, she denied that she did so with conscious disregard for the safety of others and therefore denied she should be subjected to punitive damages.

Settlement Discussions

In mediation, defense had offered $25,000 for Caughran and $5,000 for Hernandez.

Injuries

Caughran's face slammed into the steering wheel and she lost three teeth. In addition, she sustained a facial scar and a low back disk herniation at L3-4. Caughran was removed by ambulance from the scene and treated at ER. She received follow up medical care from an orthopedic surgeon, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon and oral surgeon. Hernandez sustained a two millimeter low back disk bulge at L3-4 as a result of the injury as well as a phobia of driving. Hernandez was treated by an orthopedic surgeon and psychologist. Both Caughran and Hernandez have residual back pain. There were no past loss of earnings but a projected future loss of earnings due to their back injuries.

Result

The jury found Seymour negligent and awarded compensatory damages in the amount of $900,000 to Caughran and $131,000 to Hernandez. The jury also found that Seymour acted with malice and a second phase was set to determine what amount of punitive damages would be awarded. The case settled for $1.2 million before the punitive damages issue went to the jury.