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Trials Digest's "Case of the Week"

1 Trials Digest 15th 20

Car drives over cliff on former county road, causing passenger's death

Type of Case:
Premises Liability - Negligent Repair/Maintenance; Public Property; Residential Property
Vehicle Negligence - Motor Vehicle v. Motor Vehicle; Sole Vehicle; Passenger
Wrongful Death - Adult

Jurisdiction:
State: California
Court: Los Angeles County Superior Court/Downtown

Case Name:
Cosham vs. City of Los Angeles

Docket/File Number:
BC412070

Judge:
Malcolm H. Mackey

Trial Type:
Settlement

Settlement Date:
November 2011.

Settlement Amount:
$2,280,000

$1,850,000 to plaintiffs Cosham and Cooper; $305,000 to plaintiffs Awe; $115,000 to plaintiff Escobar; $30,000 to Jack Bartholomew (minor son of cross-complainants). There were two joint mediation sessions with Darrell Forgey, Esq. of Judicate West and several private meetings thereafter. Plaintiffs agreed to pay $20,000 to nominal defendant Maheia from their share of $1,850,000. Defendant Maheia claimed a stake in the lawsuit nearly two years after it was filed, claiming he and decedent had been legitimately married in June 2006 and he was wrongfully omitted from the lawsuit. In response, plaintiffs mounted an assertive defense and investigation. All members of Maheia's family were deposed, including an active district sheriff. All testified on video that the marriage was real and they showed pictures of the wedding to prove it. Plaintiffs' lawyer hired an investigator to comb the streets of Compton, where Maheia lived, and found a woman who was the mother of his child. That woman signed a statement and subsequently testified in deposition that Maheia told her one night that decedent was his cousin and that the marriage was for green card purposes only. In addition, she supplied e-mails from her joint account with Maheia, which showed that he had written e-mails to friends to support his case as witnesses and told them exactly what to say and how to say it to support his case. Maheia then dropped his demand from $500,000 of the $1.85 million to plaintiffs to only $20,000, which the parents paid as a nuisance settlement to avoid litigation. The settlement funds were provided by defendant City of Los Angeles, $1.75 million; defendant Grans, $500,000 (policy limit); and Awe, $30,000 (policy limits). The case settled on the eve of trial after almost three years of litigation. Judge Mackey granted defendant Land Rover's motion for summary judgment.

Attorneys:
Plaintiff: Otto L. Haselhoff, Law Offices of Otto L. Haselhoff, Santa Monica; Raymond Hovsepian, Law Offices of Raymond Hovsepian, Los Angeles; Jeffrey A. Kaiman, Kaiman & Associates, Los Angeles.

Defendant: Robert F. Bennett Jr., Powers & Miller, Sacramento; Wayne J. Boehle, Waters, McCluskey & Boehle, El Segundo; Jonathan Drexler, Law Offices of David Drexler, Sherman Oaks; David Drexler, Law Offices of David Drexler, Sherman Oaks; John H. Feeney, Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, San Francisco; Darin Flagg, Waters, McCluskey & Boehle, El Segundo; Jeff C. Hsu, Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney, San Francisco; Kate S. Lehrman, RoganLehrman, Santa Monica; Anthony M. Miera, Office of County Attorney, Los Angeles; R. James Miller, Powers & Miller, Sacramento; Will Pirkey, Office of County Attorney, Los Angeles; Patrick G. Rogan, RoganLehrman, Santa Monica; Christian J. Scali, Arent Fox, Los Angeles; Allison Stone, Law Offices of David Drexler, Sherman Oaks; Arpineh Yeremian, Wesierski & Zurek, Los Angeles; Ronald Zurek, Wesierski & Zurek, Los Angeles.

Facts/Contentions:
According to Plaintiff: On May 26, 2008, at approximately 7:50 a.m., at 8904 Crescent Drive in Los Angeles, a Land Rover LR3 driven by plaintiff's decedent Cheryl Cosham's aunt, defendant Martha Awe, drove off the side of a cliff in the Hollywood Hills, tipped over, and went down off a steep embankment, landing in a neighbor's garage. Both decedent and defendant Awe were ejected from the vehicle. Decedent was killed, and Awe was injured.

The accident occurred on a road owned by defendant County of Los Angeles. The roadway had been “withdrawn from public use” by defendant City of Los Angeles over 20 years prior.

At the scene, in response to police inquiry, defendant Awe claimed the brakes failed. However, the inspection by LAPD post-accident determined nothing had malfunctioned in the vehicle.

Plaintiffs Mark Cosham and Emely Cooper, residents of England, alleged wrongful death of their daughter, decedent Cosham, who had been living in California for five years prior to the accident and apart from them. Decedent did not support plaintiffs, but they sought damages for loss of love and affection.

Plaintiffs claimed the roadway Crescent Drive was poorly maintained, that a guardrail was necessary and therefore both defendant City of Los Angeles and defendant Catherine Grans, trustee of the Robert G. Schroeder Living Trust, the owner of the abutting house and driveway, were liable. Plaintiffs also claimed defendant Awe was an agent of defendant Grans, casting her in vicarious liability because defendant Grans hired defendant Awe to take care of Robert Schroeder through his trust, and Schroeder was in defendant Awe's care at the time of the accident. Plaintiffs also alleged defendant Awe drove negligently.

Defendant Awe had a $15,000 Mercury policy.

Defendant Martha Awe and Sheheen Awe sued piggybacked and alleged the same liability against defendant City of Los Angeles as plaintiffs Cosham and also alleged liability against defendant Grans, claiming defendant Awe was within the course and scope of employment of defendant Grans at the time of the incident, making Awe eligible for workers' compensation pursuant to Labor Code 3700. In addition, the Awes claimed defendant Grans had a duty as trustee to provide maintenance and upkeep to Schroeder's property, specifically covering potholes and implementing a guardrail in place over the embankment of the property, which the Awes argued would have prevented the incident from occurring.

Defendant denied liability.

Defendant City of Los Angeles contended there were no prior accidents and thus no need for a guardrail, that it had design immunity, no notice, and did not own the road because it was deeded back to the abutting landowner, who was dead at the time of suit and without insurance.

Defendant Grans claimed she was merely a conservator trustee for the abutting landowner's person, not property, and had no individual liability for anything since she was 500 miles away in Concord, California where she lived and that Awe was not her agent.

Awe claimed the brakes failed and there was a pothole she hit in the roadway.

Nominal defendant Philip Maheia claimed a stake in the lawsuit based on his marriage to decedent in 2006 in order to secure her green card status. Plaintiffs responded that the marriage was a “green card sham” and that defendant Maheia's standing was technical at best, that they never knew of him and had no duty to include an heir they did not know about. Nevertheless, plaintiffs named him as a Doe defendant.

All defendants also focused on claims, buttressed by Maheia, that decedent had a strained relationship with her parents and that she had been the victim of sexual abuse as a child, prompting the move to America and her illegal immigration status. Defendants claimed this affected plaintiffs' damages. Also, defendants claimed decedent was not belted, and had she been would have lived like the others, and that her death was not recoverable under the seatbelt defense, so there was no damage which was not preventable by a seatbelt and therefore no recoverable damages for decedent.

Claimed Injuries:
According to Plaintiff: Decedent Cosham: Death. Defendant Awe (plaintiff in separate action): Multiple rib fractures; skull-based fracture; left shoulder fracture; thoracic and lumbar compression fractures; multiple facial fractures; left lateral gaze paralysis; thoracic epidural catheter and epidurogram secondary to injury; rib plating implants secondary to injury. Plaintiff Cristin Escobar (additional passenger in car): Bruising; head trauma.

Claimed Damages:
According to Plaintiff: Defendant Awe (plaintiff in separate action): $139,000 medical expenses.

Settlement Discussions:
According to Plaintiff: Not reported.

Experts:
Plaintiff: Maurice E. Bronstad, civil engineer, Dynatech Engineering Inc., San Antonio, TX, (210) 525-8862.; Sandy Browne, biomechanical engineer, Thompson & Associates, Newbury Park, (805) 498-5203.; Stephen L. Plourd, accident reconstructionist, Stephen Plourd Investigations, San Diego, (858) 274-9500.; Weston S. Pringle, P.E., traffic engineer, Weston Pringle & Associates, Laguna Hills, (714) 460-0110.; Merkel F. Weiss, accident reconstructionist, Stephen Blewett & Associates, Altadena, (626) 798-3028.

Defendant: Robert J. Gratzinger, accident reconstructionist, Gratzinger Engineering & Consulting Inc., Irvine, (949) 955-3400.; David F. Grimes, land surveyor, Grimes Surveying & Mapping Inc., Los Angeles, (323) 223-1001.; Andrew E. Levitt, accident reconstructionist, Collision Research & Analysis Inc., Torrance, (310) 328-9090.; Dennis C. Schneider, Ph.D., biomechanical engineer, Biokinetic Engineering Inc., Los Osos, (805) 534-2920.

Expert Testimony:
According to Plaintiff: Not reported.

Comments:
According to Plaintiff: Otto L. Haselhoff represented plaintiffs Cosham and Cooper. Raymond Hovsepian represented plaintiff Escobar in a related action. Jeffrey A. Kaiman represented plaintiffs Awe in a related action. Tony Miera and Will Pirkey represented defendant Los Angeles County; Wayne J. Boehle and Darin Flagg represented defendant Land Rover Los Angeles; R. James Miller and Robert F. Bennett Jr. represented defendant Grans; Ronald Zurek and Arpineh Yeremian represented defendants Awe; John H. Feeney and Jeff C. Hsu represented defendant Catherine Grans, administrator of the Estate of Robert G. Schroeder and Christine Gordon; Patrick G. Rogan and Kate S. Lehrman represented defendant Land Rover North America; Christian J. Scali represented defendants Young and Bartholomew; David Drexler, Jonathan Drexler, and Allison Stone represented defendant Maheia.

Westlaw Citation:
2011 WL 7006529

Trials Digest Citation:
1 Trials Digest 15th 20