Opinion ID: 1374687
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Cherie Soria.

Text: Cherie Soria was 35 years old when the accident occurred. Before her accident, Soria's favorite hobby was karate; she was a blackbelt, and in the year prior to the accident, Soria had earned $1,727 as a karate instructor. Because of her injuries, Soria testified that she is unable to engage in or teach karate today. Before her accident, Soria managed a beauty salon, doing at least 12 haircuts a day. Her 1982 tax return shows that Soria earned over $35,000 at the salon. She testified that she now is unable to work at the salon because of pain caused by the injuries received in the accident. In connection with her hairstyling work, Soria also conducted platform hairstyling demonstrations. She earned over $7,400 in 1982 for these demonstrations. These shows required that Soria stand and style for up to 12 hours a day, which, because of the nature of her injuries, she testified she is now unable to do. Soria also claims that the injuries she received preclude her from engaging in other hobbies, including tennis, skiing, dancing, hiking, and yoga. Doctors testified that Soria's injuries included the following: a broken pelvis in two places, a sprained back, a mild concussion, a hip puncture wound, a damaged knee, and intermittent headaches and dizziness. Soria's treating physician, Dr. Barbee, testified that Soria's pain and physical injuries at the time of trial still precluded Soria from engaging in karate and doing hairstyling and platform presentations. Dr. Barbee also reported that because of the frightening nature of the accident, Soria suffered from severe post-traumatic anxiety attacks when confronted with situations that paralleled her accident. Such situations included being in closed spaces, smelling gasoline fumes, or being in a crowd of people. Counsel for Sierra Pacific, as with Ryan, conceded at closing argument at least partial liability for Soria's injuries, and stated that just compensation for those injuries would be $250,000. R., Vol. 11, pp. 2812-13. The jury awarded Soria $1,000,000 damages.