Facts

Miguel Martinez-Pineda was on his way home from work as a casino supervisor and driving Northbound on SR Route 62 near Agua Caliente when he rear ended a Light Armored Vehicle driven by Austin James Bunch of U.S. Marines who was part of a fragmented convoy driving back from a training exercise at Camp Pendleton to 29 Palms. Martinez-Pineda and his wife Aia Altaiba brought a Federal Tort Claims Act claim against the U.S. government. Plaintiff was not covered by automobile liability insurance and therefore subject to Prop 213.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that defendant was driving too slow at 35 mph on a highway with dim taillights thereby creating a dangerous condition and by the time Martinez-Pineda was able to appreciate the vehicle ahead of him he could not avoid the accident. Additionally, plaintiffs claimed that defendant violated its own rules by traveling without identifying convoy signs and should not have been driving on the highway at 12:30 am and instead waited until sunlight to continue the journey. Plaintiff Altaiba claimed that even though she was a registered owner she did not bear the incidence of ownership and therefore the provisions of California Civil Code 3333.4, commonly known as Prop 213, should not apply to her. Plaintiff Martinez-Pineda claimed that Prop 213 was not meant to apply to catastrophic injuries and therefore it should not apply to him. Plaintiff Martinez-Pineda was rendered a quadriplegic as the result of the accident. Plaintiff claimed a life expectancy of 23.5 years.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendant claimed that Plaintiff was admittedly driving at 75 mph, in excess of the posted 65 mph posted speed limit. Moreover, defendant contended that plaintiff made no attempts to slow down as evidenced by lack of skid marks, and that the taillights were not dim. Additionally, defendant contended that its conduct was subject to discretionary immunity of the federal government and therefore it was not liable. Further, defendant claimed that the trial judge had no discretion to nullify the provisions of Civil Code 3333.4 and Plaintiff Altaiba was clearly an owner. Defendant asserted Plaintiff's life expectancy was 18.5 years. The nature and extent of Plaintiff's past, and future medical expenses were well past and future lost earnings were also disputed.

Result

The court found that plaintiffs' damages amounted to $22,236,502.40. Further, the court found that plaintiff was 15 percent at fault and the government was 85 percent at fault. Moreover, discretionary immunity did not apply, and in any event, only 10 percent of defendant's conduct was possibly subject to the defense of discretionary immunity. The court did not award general damages to plaintiff Martinez-Pineda, but in the event plaintiff was to be found successful on his argument on appeal he would be entitled to an additional $15,847,500 in general damages. The court found that plaintiff Altaiba was not an owner and thus awarded her loss of consortium damages in the amount of $8,980,250. Defendant was also ordered to pay $451,742.18 to plaintiff Martinez-Pineda for medical expenses, $122,362.60 for past loss of earnings, and $580,879.80 for future lost earnings. Lastly, over plaintiffs' objection, the court ordered that plaintiff's future medical expenses of $8,765,792 be placed in a reversionary trust and disbursed periodically and in the event of his early demise the funds revert back to the U.S. government. The breakdown of damages reflect the reduction of 15 percent for comparative liability.