Allison Lee Green v. American Suzuki Motor, et al.
Published: Apr. 13, 1996 | Result Date: Feb. 13, 1996 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 248857 – $0
Judge
Court
San Joaquin Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Lori A. Schweitzer
(Becherer, Kannett & Schweitzer)
Patrick J. Becherer
(Becherer, Kannett & Schweitzer)
Experts
Plaintiff
H. Richard Adams
(medical)
Michael Rossi
(Office of the Santa Clara County Counsel)
(medical)
Daniel E. Zehler PsyD
(medical)
Stephanie R. Rizzardi-Pearson
(technical)
Harry J. Krueper Jr.
(technical)
Gerry Aster
(medical)
Robert Lloyd Anderson
(technical)
Peter R. Francis Ph.D.
(technical)
Christopher Shapley
(technical)
Stephen R. Syson
(technical)
Defendant
Masanori Atsumi
(technical)
David Henry
(technical)
Kenneth F. Orlowski
(technical)
Kumeo Takemura
(technical)
David M. Yoshida M.D.
(technical)
Shiroh Kimura
(technical)
Edward A. Moffatt
(technical)
Neil K. Cooperrider
(technical)
Kotaro Naito
(technical)
Facts
On June 23, 1991, at 2:45 p.m., the plaintiff, Allison Lee Green, a 16-year-old high school student, was driving a 1989 Suzuki Swift on Interstate 580 near Tracy, California. The plaintiff and two friends were returning home to the Los Angeles area after spending three days camping at a music festival near San Rafael. While traveling at about 75 mph, the plaintiff's car drifted left off of the pavement into the median leaving 240 feet of tire marks in the dirt and gravel. When the plaintiff turned the vehicle to the right back onto the pavement, it crossed two twelve foot paved travel lanes, a ten foot paved shoulder, struck a six inch asphalt berm on the right side of the pavement and then traveled 90 feet down a rocky slope, tripped and rolled numerous times, coming to rest upside down. The plaintiff and one other passenger were ejected, both receiving serious head injuries. The third occupant remained in the vehicle but sustained fatal injuries. The plaintiff's insurance company settled a wrongful death claim and a personal injury claim brought on behalf of the two passengers. The plaintiff filed this action against the Suzuki defendants and that the State of California ("state") based on product liability, design defect, dangerous condition of public property and negligence theories of recovery. No action was brought on behalf of the other two occupants against Suzuki or the state.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made separate C.C.P. º998 demands of $1,300,000 to the Suzuki defendants and $1,300,000 to the defendant state. The defendants made no offer.
Specials in Evidence
$337,000 none $1,004,000 $389,000
Damages
The plaintiff asked the jury to award special damages of $1,730,000 and general damages of $5,000,000.
Injuries
The plaintiff alleged that she sustained an open head injury, including left frontal and temporal contusions and right temporal and basilar skull fractures; fractures of the C7 vertebra, pelvis, ribs and scapula; a ruptured spleen; and a Glasgow Coma Scale of 3 out of 15 and that she remained comatose for approximately four weeks as a result of the accident. During her hospitalization, the plaintiff had bilateral pneumothoraces with acute respiratory distress syndrome. She spent three months in the hospital followed by six months as an inpatient in a community rehabilitation center for brain injured patients. The plaintiff's long term residual problems include depression, personality changes, impaired balance and impaired cognitive function including impaired memory, impaired abstract reasoning, reduced insight and reduced learning ability.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately four years and one month after the case was filed.
Deliberation
45 minutes
Poll
12-0
Length
11 days
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