Source: https://www.dbbwc.com/Verdicts/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 13:47:07+00:00

Document:
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, a Napa County jury returned a verdict in favor of clients of the Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora firm in the amount of $8,311,685 and $125,000. The firm represented Melissa Alvarez, a 35-year-old mother of three and employee of Napa County's Probation Department and her 5-year old son, Lorenzo Alvarez..
Verdict: $5.24 Million | Yuba County | Jane Doe v. Sundt Construction, Inc.
Plaintiff was seriously injured while performing electrical work on the roof of the Health and Safety building at Yuba Community College. Plaintiff fell while descending a roof access ladder due to defendant Sundt Construction, Inc.'s failure to apply a required non-slip coating on the ladder steps and clean the ladder of sheet rock and dust. Plaintiff fell approximately 15 feet to the concrete floor suffering multiple injuries.
Sacramento County Jury Awards a $1.25 Million verdict in favor of motorcyclist Timothy Stubbs.
Verdict: $2.89 Million | Sacramento County | Bradley v. Bassco Services, Inc.
On Friday, June 3, 2016, a Sacramento County jury returned a personal injury verdict of $2,894,226.73 for injuries suffered by the plaintiff in an April 15, 2013, automobile collision.
Verdict: $627,000 | Stanislaus County | Esteves v. Allied Concrete Company, Inc.
On April 22, 2014, Joshua Esteves was stopped at a red light in Modesto. He and his wife and two sons were enjoying spring break together. While stopped, Mr. Esteves was rear-ended by a 30-ton cement truck owned and operated by Allied Concrete Company.
Following a three-week trial, an El Dorado County jury returned a $9,860,630.86 verdict in favor of Plaintiff Carly Bray. Ms. Bray lost her right leg on March 1, 2012, when a driver lost control of her vehicle and careened into an El Dorado Union High School District bus stop.
An Arkansas woman, who suffered severe brain injuries, losing part of her temporal lobe after being broadsided by a van driven by a grocery chain employee, was awarded $9 million by a federal jury.
The defendant, age 53 at the time of the incident, denied liability both for causing the collision and for plaintiff's damages. Defendant has been a Type 1 insulin-dependent diabetic since the age of 14 and on the evening of the collision she blacked out from low blood sugar, crossed the centerline and struck the plaintiff's vehicle.
On June 1, 2012, Amy Elliott and Steven Galvan were standing on the sidewalk at the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue when a drunk driver came onto the sidewalk and struck them as they waited to cross the street. After the initial collision, the drunk driver did not stop, but continued to drive several hundred feet before colliding with another vehicle that was stopped at a stop sign. A blood test of the drunk driver would later reveal a blood alcohol content of .28.
On January 10, 2011, a 60-meter meteorological evaluation tower (MET) that had been erected in April 2009 took the life of well-known and respected Northern California agricultural aviator Steve Allen. Mr. Allen had been hired by Bouldin Farming Company to spread winter wheat on one of the fields in Webb Tract Island, located in Contra Costa County.
On the day of the subject incident, Mr. Allen was never made aware of the existence of the tower by Bouldin Farming Company, and from eyewitness accounts, it was clear that he never saw it before he struck it and fell to his death. Mr. Allen's death was not the first where agricultural aviators struck unmarked and unlit METs during daytime operations.
On October 11, 2010, Mrs. Hackett was driving her bus on Highway 12 when the defendant's semi-truck/trailer combination crossed over into the oncoming lane, colliding with Mrs. Hackett's bus and rendering her paralyzed from the waist down, also resulting in her suffering a major closed-head injury.
A Sacramento County jury found Sacramento Regional Transit District liable for the wrongful death of Joyce Jacobs and awarded her husband, John Jacobs, and son, Anthony Jacobs, more than $2.4 million in damages. The verdict came nearly five years after Mrs. Jacobs was killed by a left-turning RT bus at the intersection of 8th Street and Q Street in downtown Sacramento.
A Sacramento jury determined that Ford Motor Company's conduct was despicable in the handling of a tire replacement program conducted by Goodyear in 2002. The jury determined that Ford, which had information relative to the defective tire from the tire manufacturer, Goodyear, failed to provide information to its customer base and owners of E-350 Econoline 15 Passenger Vans. The jury determined that Ford's conduct was such a breach of its responsibility and duty as a manufacturer that the plaintiffs were subject to an award of punitive damages in the amount of $50 million.
United States deemed to be negligent in the death of Tommy Botell by court order. During the course of discovery in this case, it became apparent that relevant evidence had not been preserved and/or had been destroyed. Steve Campora and Catia Saraiva filed a motion against the United States seeking sanctions based on spoliation of evidence.
This matter involved a construction accident where plaintiff was the truck driver involved in off-loading of large beams. In the process of off-loading, beams were dropped on the plaintiff by a forklift operator who claimed to be an employee of one of the defendants. Comparative fault against him was a significant issue. Defendants also disputed liability and the forklift operator's employment with defendants. The matter went to trial and was settled in the third week of trial.
Verdict: $1,449,618 | Sacramento County | Baldo v. Chuck Swift Dodge-Chrysler, et al.
Robert Swift who was the owner of Chuck Swift Dodge-Chrysler, Inc. in Sacramento, California, rear-ended Ms. Baldo at a red light on February 22, 2008. Ms. Baldo suffered injuries to her cervical spine, right shoulder and right hand. She went on to have arthroscopic surgery on her shoulder and carpal tunnel release on her right wrist.
Verdict: $2.9 Million | Sacramento Superior Court | Arenas v. UPS Ground Freight, Inc.
The UPS truck was southbound on I-5 near Redding and began to change lanes into the #1 lane. The decedent's Ford Explorer was located in the #1 lane approaching the rear of the UPS truck. The rear of the UPS truck entered into the #1 lane and the left side of the UPS rear trailer either struck the right side of the decedent's Ford Explorer or caused her to swerve to her left to avoid being struck.
Verdict: $24,307,273 | Sacramento County | Loza-Jimenez v. Freeway Transport, Inc.
Plaintiff, a 9-year-old little girl, was pinned beneath the rear duals of a tractor-trailer. She suffered severe injuries to her legs and buttocks. In a bifurcated trial, plaintiff proved that defendant was liable for the plaintiff's injuries and obtained a record Sacramento County personal injury damage verdict of $24,307,273, including $20 million of pain and suffering damages.
This matter involved a collision that took place on April 17, 2009, resulting in the death of a 40-year-old father of two teenage children. The decedent was the operator of a church bus that ran out of gas and was disabled on the side of southbound Highway 99 between Merced and Fresno.
This matter involved a four-month trial against MasterCraft alleging a defective product in terms of how they constructed the subject boat. Plaintiff was a passenger in the boat when, during the course of the operation, it took on water and she was washed overboard and into the propeller suffering a significant brain injury.
Verdict: $4.5 Million | San Francisco County Superior Court | Ausselet v. WPX Courier LLC, et al .
This is an action of admitted liability addressing the loss of a husband and father. The surviving children were from different marriages. The key assessment of the case was the involvement of the father in the lives of the children and in the marriage with his then wife. Defendant made a statutory offer of over $2.6 million prior to trial.
Maria Bodeman was 42 years of age, married and had two children at the time when she was rear-ended on northbound US 101 in Marin County. She was coming home from her job in Marin to Sacramento when she was struck from behind in a three-car chain reaction collision. Ms. Bodeman sustained an injury to her cervical spine resulting in a single level cervical fusion.
This is an action filed by a Hispanic woman against an entity that had only $3 million in insurance coverage. The operator of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol when he ran through a stop sign and struck the plaintiff's vehicle causing a serious brain injury. The defendant failed to tender the policy limit in a timely fashion upon demand.
Lead singer and guitarist of the Sacramento band Bucho was severely injured while traveling home from a performance at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. The 44-year-old Gerald Pease had rented a 15-passenger van from Enterprise Rent-A-Car of Sacramento to transport both the band members and their gear to the performance in Vegas.
This involved an incident where a wife and mother of two adult daughters was in a crosswalk when she was struck by a Sacramento Regional Transit Bus. This case involved essentially a jury valuing the loss of a wife and mother who was in her mid-50s. Pretrial offer was $2 million.
Verdict: $5.2 Million | Sacramento County Superior Court | Garcia v. Cal-West Concrete Cutting, Inc.
This case involves 65-year-old Elva Garcia and her husband of 46 years, Ramon Garcia. On the day of the incident, plaintiffs were traveling southbound on Sierra College Boulevard when the defendant, who was traveling in the opposite direction, had his compressor trailer disconnect from the back of his truck due to his failure to properly secure the trailer hitch. The trailer, which had a diesel generator on it, went into the Garcias' lane of travel and struck their vehicle head-on.
This case involved allegations against the state of California for having a dangerous condition of public roadway as it relates to how they set up and ran their chain installation zone on Highway 50. Mr. Dreyer represented Mrs. Betts and her husband, a 73-year-old man who was working on the day of the incident as an independent contractor installing chains.
This case involves a 70-year-old farm worker who was driving a tractor on July 4, 2001, when he was rear-ended by a UPS transportation vehicle. The impact caused Mr. Servin's head to strike the rear glass on the tractor causing him to suffer a closed head injury.
This case involved an industrial accident that occurred at the Bechtel Power Plant in Costa Contra County. Plaintiff Salamanca was a 52-year-old laborer who had immigrated to the United States as a teenager. Plaintiff was in a large ditch acting as a hose man for a concrete pump truck that was filling a ditch with a slurry mix in order to protect pipelines for the power plant.
Verdict: $3,436,781 | Tehama County | Lawrence v. Haas, et al.
The plaintiff, a helicopter mechanic, sustained a severe ankle injury when he and his co-workers were attempting to transport a solar panel that was to be installed as part of a home/ranch solar energy project when it fell on his ankle/foot.
This was a rear-end motor vehicle collision which took place as a result of the plaintiff having to slow for construction and the defendant impacting her car from behind. Defendant admitted liability, but contested the nature and extent of plaintiff's injuries. Plaintiff claimed a cervical spine injury which resulted in surgery and a lumbar spine injury which also resulted in a surgery.
Irrigation district employee Craig Escobar was killed when a tractor-trailer ran over him while he was standing outside his own truck at an asphalt yard. Mr. Escobar left a surviving wife and three sons. The jury found the truck driver and the asphalt yard responsible for the accident.
Here, the plaintiff was operating a bus when he was broadsided in an intersection by a vehicle owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. As a result of the collision, the plaintiff lost consciousness, causing him to lose control of the bus striking two houses near the intersection and sustaining injuries to both shoulders and knees.
This wrongful death and personal injury case involved the tragic death of a 39-year-old husband and father of two when a semi-truck crossed the median causing a head-on accident. Decedent's wife also suffered injuries in the accident.
Plaintiff, an out-of-state resident, slipped and fell in a spill of disputed origin in defendant's store while shopping for personal items. Plaintiff suffered a non-surgical lumbar disk injury that made it very difficult for him to work full-time as he had routinely done prior to the accident.
This action dealt with a fraud/misrepresentation claim filed by the professional football franchise, the Oakland Raiders, against the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, along with others, arising out of the Raiders move from Los Angeles to Oakland.
Represented a 42-year-old single mother who was struck by a vehicle spinning out of control on April 18, 1996. The defendant, a trucking company, denied that their driver had caused the other vehicle to lose control and strike the plaintiff. She suffered neck and back injuries resulting in surgery.
This was, for almost 10 years, the largest verdict for pain and suffering in Marin County history. This is a case involving a 55-year-old pedestrian who was hit by a turning bus while crossing the street. Plaintiff sustained a moderate closed head injury that affected his social functioning and employability.
This case involved a disputed liability motor vehicle accident. Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband. Defendant contended that plaintiff was traveling at an excess rate of speed, overreacted to the circumstances, and caused the subject accident. Defendant offered the sum of $100,000 on the first day of trial. Previous offer had been $50,000. Verdict: $713,000 (largest personal injury verdict in Modoc County history). This case was co-tried with Roger A. Dreyer.
This case involved a bicyclist who was a 23-year-old engineer for Johnson & Johnson who sustained a closed head injury when struck by a Pacific Bell truck in a poorly marked roadway work area.

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