Kathryn O'Shea v. Timothy Dewayne Speck, Dav Taushalaya, Lotus Intermodal
Published: Jun. 12, 1999 | Result Date: May 20, 1999 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 97AS04855 Verdict – $0
Judge
Court
Sacramento Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Douglas W. Kindall
(medical)
Michael G. Guess
(medical)
William P. Duffy
(medical)
Joan Reynolds
(medical)
Defendant
Richard Neill Robertson
(technical)
Facts
PLAINTIFF CONTENTIONS AS TO LIABILITY: On Oct. 31, 1996, at approximately 5:15 p.m., plaintiff Kathryn O'Shea, a 45-year-old architect, entered southbound I-5 at the I Street on-ramp. She merged left into the S-4 lane at a point when the defendant's vehicle was approximately 100 feet away. After merging, she traveled a few hundred feet in the S-4 lane before needing to stop due to traffic congestion. The plaintiff was rear ended by defendant's 80,000-pound semi tractro-trailer. DEFENDANT CONTENTIONS AS TO LIABILITY: The defendant was southbound in the E-4 lane. He had stopped for traffic and was starting to move again. The defense argued that plaintiff cut in front of him and that the collision occurred almost immediately; therefore, the defendant had no time to stop or avoid the collision. At trial, the defendant testified that when plaintiff entered his lane, she was four feet ahead of him and came to an abrupt stop, whereupon he impacted her "in the blink of an eye."
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a settlement demand of $625,000. The defendants made no formal offers at the settlement conference or at any time.
Specials in Evidence
$31,642 $35,250
Injuries
The plaintiff suffered herniated L4-5 disc, non-impinging bulging in the cervical spine, and TMJ dysfunction. The plaintiff has residual generalized musculoskeletal misery.
Deliberation
four hours
Poll
10-2
Length
five days
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