DAMAGE RECEIVED         $962,000

CASE                    Alan Nichols v. Estate of Dayle J. Tognazzini
CV11710

COURT                  Superior Court of Madera County, Madera

PLAINTIFF
ATTORNEY(S)        Charles D. Oren

DEFENSE
ATTORNEY(S)        Theodore W. Hoppe

FACTS        The estate of a deceased driver who caused an accident on the roadway while allegedly driving under the influence of  morphine agreed to pay $926,000 to a driver who sustained multiple orthopedic injuries and brain damage in the accident.
Plaintiff Alan Nichols, a 42-year-old IRS senior tax examiner, was traveling southbound on Highway 41 toward Fresno from Oakhurst when a vehicle crossed over the centerline, went up an embankment, and fell upside down on the plaintiff’s vehicle and onto the roadway.
The plaintiff, who had allowed his automobile insurance to lapse at the time of the accident, contended that Proposition 213, which would limit recovery to special damages, did not apply in the case since the decedent was under the influence of morphine while driving. Charles D. Oren pointed out that the toxicology report established that the decedent was over the legal limit and that she would have been convicted of driving under the influence had she lived.
The estate of Dayle J. Tognazzini responded that the decedent was never convicted of having a high level of morphine in her system (due to chronic pain) since she died in the accident.

INJURIES     The plaintiff suffered a fractured jaw that required wiring, a fractured proximal left tibia that required open reduction and internal fixation, a compression fracture of his back that healed with constant pain, and a closed head injury.

SETTLEMENT  Damages received amounted to $962,000

PLAINTIFF
EXPERT(S)  Rick Sarkisian,
Randall C. Epperson,
James Nugent

DEFENSE
EXPERT(S)  Confidential