Confidential
Settlement – $500,000Judge
Court
San Bernardino Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
R. Thomas Wire
(Law Office of R. Thomas Wire)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Jacob E. Tauber M.D.
(medical)
Harry J. Krueper Jr.
(technical)
Robert A. Applebaum M.D.
(medical)
Defendant
James G. Kent Ph.D.
(technical)
Eugene D. Williams
(medical)
Fredrick J. Lieb
(medical)
Simon Garner
(medical)
Cadvan O. Griffiths Jr.
(medical)
Facts
On Jan. 7, 1995, at approximately 12:45 a.m., plaintiffs passenger No. 1 a 19-year-old student and passenger No. 2 a 23-year-old singer were passengers in a 1988 Mercedes 300CE, being driven by defendant. The vehicle was owned by passenger No. 1's grandmother, who is also a defendant in this case. Passenger No. 1 was in the front passenger's seat asleep at the time of the accident. Passenger No. 2 was in the rear seat of the car also asleep. A while before the accident, passenger No. 1 had been driving his grandmother's vehicle, but he was tired, he turned over the driving chores to the defendant driver. The young men were on their way to Las Vegas and had started their sojourn from Calabasas. The defendant driver was driving the car on U.S. Highway 95, south of the Five Mile Road, when he lost control of the vehicle and rolled over. Passenger No. 2 was not wearing his seatbelt and was ejected as a result of the accident. The defendant driver was not injured. The deposition of CHP officer, Michael Callahan, was taken and he stated that the defendant driver told him that: "I began driving from SR62 because passenger No. 1 got tired. I was northbound at about 60 to 65 mph and as I rounded the curve, I saw something in the road. I really don't know what it was . . . maybe an animal or something. I swerved to the left to avoid it, but I guess, I turned too sharp. I tried to correct back to the right, but the car flipped over." Officer Callahan said that the reason he put the three periods in the statement of the defendant driver was because there was a significant pause between the driver saying there was something in the road and the suggestion by the defendant driver that it was an animal. Officer Callahan put in his report and also testified at his deposition that he inspected the area for any animal tracks on the soft dirt surfaces that abutted the road and found none. He testified that an animal such as a coyote, burrow or cow would have left tracks in the dirt along the road. He further testified that he found no object in the road that would substantiate the defendant driver's statement. At the time of the accident, the defendant driver was not able to describe either the object or animal allegedly in the road. The defendant driver, during deposition, describes the animal as "probably the size of a large dog." The defendant driver describe the accident to passenger No. 1 he said, "I saw something in the road and swerved to get around it and lost control of the vehicle." The plaintiffs brought this action against the defendants based on a negligence theory of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
Per the defendant, each plaintiff made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $2 million.
Specials in Evidence
Passenger No. 1 $22,000 $____________ $____________ Passenger No. 2 $66,000
Injuries
Passenger No. 1 claimed he suffered a head laceration, a fractured right wrist and a laceration on his eyelid. Passenger No. 2 claimed he suffered a right toe fracture, a knee fracture, facial lacerations and a maxillary fracture, requiring two implants of the teeth.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately one year and five months after the case was filed. A settlement conference was held on June 6, 1997 before Arton C. Hayton, Judge Pro Tem. The defendant owner was covered by two separate umbrella policies of $2 million each. Neither of these umbrella of the car policies provided coverage for the defendant driver.
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