Hortense Little v. Villa Honda; Margett Bros.
Published: Apr. 25, 1998 | Result Date: Apr. 1, 1998 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 256665 Verdict – $0
Facts
On Oct. 19, 1993, plaintiff Hortense Little, a 71-year-old retired female tripped and fell at defendant Villa Honda, a Hemet area automobile dealership. The plaintiff claimed to have tripped over the curbside of a handicapped ramp. The plaintiff brought this action against the dealer and Margett Bros., the paving contractor who constructed the ramp, based on negligence and premises liability theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
Prior to trial, Villa Honda made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise in the amount of $8,500. Per the plaintiff, Margett Bros. made a statutory offer to compromise in the amount of $1,500, which was informally raised to $2,500 on the eve of trial. Plaintiff's demand was $10,500 per defendant, which was also communicated by way of statutory offer.
Specials in Evidence
$6,458.39 $_______ $_______ $_______
Damages
Per the plaintiff, the plaintiff claimed $6,458.39 in damages. Per the defendant, the plaintiff claimed $36,000 in damages.
Injuries
The plaintiff suffered exacerbation of soft tissue injuries.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately three years and six months after the case was filed. Prior to jury instructions, the Hon. Richard G. Van Frank, ordered stricken all testimony and evidence pertaining to statutory or regulatory violations on the subject ramp. The court also declined to give a negligence per se jury instruction. ARBITRATION: An arbitration was held on June 6, 1996, before Sharon Burchett of Foster, Onscoll & Reynolds resulting in an award of $24,000 to the plaintiff. The defendant requested a trial de novo. EXPERT TESTIMONY: During trial, plaintiff called Stephen Wexler as a safety/construction/human factors expert. Wexler testified that the curbside of the ramp presented an unreasonable tripping hazard and was in violation of applicable building code regulations. In rebuttal, defendants called Kenneth Solomon. Solomon testified that the curbside of the ramp was readily visible to all persons in its vicinity and that he found no statutory violations. Solomon also testified that he had worked closely with building personnel from the city of Hemet while performing his research. Per the plaintiff, Solomon was unaware that the building code was passed by ordinance by the city of Hemet three years before the incident. The plaintiff intends to file a motion for a new trial.
Deliberation
one hour
Poll
10-2 (Villa Honda ); 11-1 (Margett Bros.)
Length
one week
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