Facts

On Nov. 4, 2008 at 5:30 p.m., plaintiff Elvira Giron was crossing a crosswalk in front of the New Lexington School in El Monte when she was struck by defendant Michele Ye, who was driving a 2000 Toyota Camry at low speed.

There were no witnesses to the actual impact. The police report Ye had violated Vehicle Code section 21950(a), but she was not cited. Giron was taken by ambulance to greater El Monte Community Hospital, treated, and released.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Giron contended that she saw Ye approaching but entered the roadway ahead of her and raised her hand to signal she was crossing.

Giron claimed that she required over $70,000 in medical care and she has residual pain in her lower back, which will require future medical care of about $20,000 over her lifetime. Giron contended that Ye was 100 percent at fault.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Ye contended that she stopped her car at the crosswalk to allow pedestrians to cross and, when it was clear, she let her foot off the brake and collided with Giron who suddenly appeared ahead of her.

Ye contended that Giron was 50 percent at fault and that reasonable medical expenses totalled about $6,000.

Settlement Discussions

Giron made a C.C.P. section 998 demand of $100,000. Ye made a C.C.P. section 998 offer of $30,000.

Specials in Evidence

$77,706 $20,000

Injuries

Giron claimed she sustained contusions, abrasions, epidural injections, facet block injections, discogram, and percutaneous disc decompression surgery with residual pain to lumbar spine. In addition, Giron alleged loss of consciousness with post-concussion syndrome and mild traumatic brain injury. Dr. Vincent Valdez, an anesthesiologist, testified that Giron had an abnormal lumbar MRI with 2-3 mm bulges at two levels causing her pain and his discogram confirmed an annular fissure at L4-5. He did a PDD with an Arthrocare wand to decompress the disc by removing the nucleus. Dr. Andrew Schreiber, a neurologist, testified that Giron sustained a post-concussion syndrome and had mild traumatic brain injury due to striking her head resulting in retrograde amnesia, lethargy, memory problems, etc. Dr. Nitin Bhatia, an orthopedic surgeon, testified that Giron had contusions and muscle strains and her lumbar MRI was normal based on the reading of the MRI by Giron's own radiologist, Dr. William Glenn. He did not feel the discogram or PDD were reasonable or necessary. Dr. Ted Evans, Ph.D., psychologist, testified that Giron did not have a mild traumatic brain injury, she had no cognitive deficit, and she did not need psychological treatment for the accident.

Result

The jury awarded Giron $14,358, but found her 20 percent at fault, reducing Giron's recovery to $11,486.

Other Information

Ye is filing a cost bill, seeking to offset costs against Giron's verdict for a net judgment for Ye, C.C.P. section 998. FILING DATE: Jan. 23, 2009.

Deliberation

2.5 hours

Length

five days