California Injury Blog

Published on: June 17, 2007

Personal Injury Lawsuit Filed by Anti Tort Law Judge

By Brian Chase

In an ironic twist of events, Judge Robert H. Bork, a one-time Supreme Court nominee and one of the architects of the judicial conservative movement, has filed a trip-and-fall lawsuit against Yale Club demanding $1 million in compensatory damages in addition to punitive damages, according to a news report in the New York Times.

What’s the irony here? It’s just that Judge Bork has been a leading advocate of restricting plaintiffs’ ability to recover through tort law. In a 2002 article published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, the judge famously argues that such “frivolous claims and excessive punitive damage awards” have led to the transformation of the Constitution into a document that would allow Congress to enact tort reforms, which would have been considered unconstitutional at the time of framing.

“Accordingly, proposals such as placing limits or caps on punitive damagers or eliminating joint or strict liability, which may once have been clearly understood as beyond the Congress’ power, may now be constitutionally appropriate,” Judge Bork said in that article.

But his opinions on tort law miraculously changed after the 80-year-old Bork took a tumble on June 6, 2006 as he was climbing up the stairs of the Yale Club to deliver a speech for The New Criterion magazine. His suit explains that the Yale Club did not provide handrails on the stairs for the guests to climb up to and that Bork’s fall was a direct result of that.
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Published on: June 16, 2007

Chevy Suburban Rollover Lawsuit

By Brian Chase

There is a lawsuit that’s going through the Riverside county court system, which could change the way auto makers look at safety options in their vehicles – and that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for consumers.

Here’s why. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, this lawsuit, filed by family members of two people killed in a 2002 Chevy Suburban rollover, contends that General Motors Corp. was negligent in not providing an electronic stability control system in its mainstream SUV model. The auto maker offered those options only in its luxury vehicle models such as Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Corvette and the Cadillac Seville.

Here’s the question the plaintiffs pose to the jury – should safety be a luxury option? Or should it be mandated for all vehicles? Well, plaintiff attorneys say that once a company has developed a safety device or technology, they have the obligation to consumers to offer it on all their vehicles – whether they are economy or luxury models.
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Published on: June 15, 2007

Cemetery Fraud Results in a Million Dollar Judgment

By Brian Chase

An Alabama jury awarded $1 million to a Prattville physician who sued a local cemetery for breach of contract because cemetery officials reduced the size of a 16-plot parcel the doctor bought in 1976 for $1,595.

According to an Associated Press news article posted in the Decatur Daily, the jury decided against the owners of Prattville Memory Gardens, awarding the plaintiffs the highest damages recorded in Decatur county for such a lawsuit — $80,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

The physician, Dr. W. E. “Gene” Patterson, who plans to be buried in the plot, bought it 31 years ago as an “estate plot” from the former owner of the business. Patterson had envisioned it as a family memorial with concrete walkways, a large family marker and landscaping, the article said. The doctor, who told the reporter that he was surprised at the jury’s verdict, said he was happy that the cemetery owners have been penalized and held liable for breach of contract and fraud.
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Published on: June 14, 2007

Pedestrian Accident Causes Serious Injuries to 10 Year Old Girl

By Brian Chase

A 10-year-old El Monte girl is in critical condition after she was hit by a car while crossing a busy intersection with her sister and cousin Friday night, according to an article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Mirissa Cortez was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with major head injuries after she and the two other girls were hit as they tried to cross Peck Road.

Mirissa’s sister, Cosvi, was treated for minor injuries and released while the girls’ 18-year-old cousin, yet to be identified, remained in the hospital with a back injury. According to the news report the accident happened at about 8:50 p.m. at the intersection of Peck Road and Ranchito Street, when 71-year-old Julian Weisberg of Thousand Oaks drove through the intersection and hit the girls, who were walking on the marked crosswalk. There were no arrests or citations. Officials are still investigating the circumstances of the crash.

But several eyewitnesses and local residents say that the intersection where this accident occurred is one of the busiest and most dangerous intersections in the area. Although there is a 35 mph speed limit, motorists rarely stick to it, observers say. Officials have reported four collisions at that intersection since December. Residents say the intersection needs at least a stop sign to make motorists stop for the pedestrians.
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Published on: June 13, 2007

Fatal SUV Accident Leads to Another Lawsuit Against Ford

By Brian Chase

The family of a Tongan Prince killed on Highway 101 in Menlo Park last year has filed a lawsuit against Ford Motor Company. The family is alleging that the Explorer sport utility vehicle they were riding in was unsafe and that the auto maker marketed it as a safe vehicle in spite of knowing its dangers.

According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Explorer was sideswiped during a street racing incident on the highway on July 5. Edith Delgado, a Redwood City teenager, is facing three counts of vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of Tongan Prince Tu’ipelehake, 55, his wife, Princess Kaimana Aleamotu’a Tuku’aho, 46, and their driver, 36-year-old Vinisia Hefa of Palo Alto, the article said.

The 1998 Explorer flipped several times. Delgado and her passenger were not injured in the crash. The lawsuit accuses Ford of deceptive marketing saying that the auto maker touts the Explorer as a safe vehicle while knowing very well that it was prone to rollovers and has a roof that crushes on impact. The plaintiffs’ attorney states that had the prince and his wife been a passenger in a Honda, Toyota or even a Ford Mustang, they would have probably survived the crash.
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Published on: June 12, 2007

Rollover / Roof Crush Case Awarded $10.4 Million by Jury

By Brian Chase

A six-person jury in Palm Beach, Florida, deliberated for nearly 11 hours over three days, before finding that Ford Motor Co. should pay $10.4 million after the woman became paralyzed as a result of a defective seat in her Ford Explorer, according to an article in the Palm Beach Post.

Donna Grimes said the decision was a victory for her husband. He has long believed that the flaws in the design of her Ford Explorer seat caused her neck to snap during her 2001 crash, which left her a quadriplegic; putting an end to the couple’s once-active lifestyle. The couple says this money will go toward paying Donna’s mounting medical bills.

Grimes’ accident occurred about six years ago when the driver of a Toyota Solara rear-ended her Explorer at 60 mph. The driver of the Toyota walked away from the crash, but Grimes’ seat collapsed jettisoning her into the back seat. Their lawsuit stated that the Explorer seats fail in rear-end collisions causing horrible injuries and even deaths because they are not strong enough to absorb the impact of the crash.
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Published on: June 11, 2007

Fatal Car Crash Caused by Speed and Alcohol Killing Four Perris High Students

By Brian Chase

It was a graduation trip out of a horror movie for four Perris High School seniors who died this week from injuries suffered in a car crash on the way to the beach, according to an article in the Riverside Press-Enterprise. Officials say speed and alcohol were definitely factors that contributed to the crash. Family and friends of the four teenagers are struggling to accept eyewitness accounts of the boys tearing down the road at 90 to 100 mph and waving beer cans out the window, the newspaper article said.

The newspaper identified the four students who died as: Jose Espinoza, 18; Pablo “Paul Ruiz”, 18; Javier Aguayo, 17; and Anthony O’Neil, 17. All the boys, except for Espinoza, died on scene after their Acura Integra careened off I-15 in Escondido and rammed into a tree. Right before they went off the road, the teens had passed a full school bus that was headed to the beach, CHP officials told the newspaper. Perris school district officials say the students should have been on one of those buses and not in their own vehicle because it was a school-sponsored trip to Mission Beach.

According to eyewitness reports, another black vehicle with tinted windows was racing with the Acura the teens were in. Officials are also looking into how the students obtained the alcohol. Friends and neighbors refused to believe that the boys were drinking or showing off their beer cans. Teachers described all four boys as outgoing.
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Published on: June 10, 2007

Seat Belt Failure or Failure to Wear a Seat Belt?

By Brian Chase

A Las Vegas, Nevada woman died in rollover accident near the airport in Las Cruces, New Mexico according to a story in the Las Cruces Sun News.

Denver Demary of Baudette, Minn. died in a rollover accident on Lake of the Woods County Road Wednesday evening according to a story in the Star Tribune.

In both these news articles the investigating police agencies make the statement that the deceased vehicle occupants were not wearing seat belts. I seriously doubt that either of the investigating agencies did any investigation regarding seat belt use in these accidents. In order to accurately determine seat belt use, an investigator needs to have the knowledge of what evidence to look for and then look for it.
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Published on: June 9, 2007

Big Rig Crash Hit Median; Concrete Kills Woman

By Brian Chase

A Mountain View woman is dead after the sport utility vehicle she was driving was struck by flying concrete from a big-rig crash in Redwood City last week, according to an article in the San Mateo County Times.

Indira Gagloeva was air-lifted to Stanford University Medical Center soon after the crash the afternoon of May 19, but was pronounced dead at the hospital. Gagloeva was driving a Lexus SUV Northbound on Highway 101 when a tractor trailer rig going Southbound rammed into the median, sending chunks of concrete flying around the freeway before the rig burst into flames.

The rocks hit Gagloeva’s vehicle as well as the car that was behind her. Maria Villasenior, the driver of that Toyota sedan was not hurt. Gagloeva suffered major head trauma after a piece of concrete went right through the windshield and hit her, according to the article. Her daughter, who was also taken to hospital, suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the big rig was reportedly carrying a load of cardboard and lost control of the vehicle. The driver and his passenger got out safely. A tire from the truck also flew off and hit a building, but no one was reported hurt. The truck company owner Travis Berry told the newspaper that this was the worst accident in his company’s history. Berry said the driver, identified only as Carlos, had worked for the company only for a month. The crash is still under investigation.
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Published on: June 8, 2007

E. Coli Fear Prompts Ground Beef Recall

By Brian Chase

Just when you thought it had subsided for a while, the foodborne-illness scare starts all over again. This time, it’s ground beef. On Monday Supervalu Inc. recalled the meat products sold in its Albertsons and Save-A-Lot stores because it is reportedly tainted with E. Coli, according to a news report posted on NBC San Diego’s website.

Most of the contaminated ground beef was sold under the Moran’s label at Albertsons stores in the states of California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming as well as Save-A-Lot stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. Albertsons 90/10 Sirloin fresh hamburger patties were also among the meat that was recalled.

The beef products reportedly have sell-by dates from April 20 through May 7 and included Moran’s brand 1-pound to 5-pound meat packages under UPC numbers 34779 60501, 34779 96000, 34779 91000, 34779 60010, 34779 96194 and 34779 21117, according to the news article. This recall is an expansion of another similar recall that occurred on Sunday by United Food Group, a meat supplier. That company recalled 75,000 pounds of ground beef tainted by E. Coli. This meat was reportedly sold at Grocery Outlet, Fry’s, Save-Mart, Smart and Final, Smith’s and Stater Bros. stores.
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