Real Cases

California Court Throws Out Text-Lock Case Against Apple

July 12, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

The death of a California college student by a distracted driver prompts his father to file a claim against Apple for a failure to institute a program to disable texting while driving.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge, Judge Maureen Folan decided against plaintiff Craig Riggs in August, saying he had not adequately proved that Apple should bear responsibility in the death of his son, David Riggs in 2013. The suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning no option of refiling the claim.

David Riggs died in 2013 while riding a scooter on the way to his Minnesota home. He was hit by a distracted teen driver sending text messages on his iPhone in a Honda Civic. The teen was only convicted of a misdemeanor.

Jury Finds Police at Fault in Woman’s Death After High Speed Chase

July 9, 2018 | by Moseley Collins

Maria Gaglione, 24, from Pittsburg, died after the car she was a passenger in during a high-speed chase with police in a stolen car. Her parents assert she did not know the car had been stolen 2 days earlier and was not participating in the flight from law.

Jurors at a coroner’s inquest ruled the death was not an accident and was caused by the police in a negligent and dangerous chase. The father of the victim spoke out in agreement with the decision. Two Clayton sheriff’s deputies chased the car at speeds of over 80 MH in an area designated at 25 MPH in Concord. The driver of the stolen car was Amy Fiasconaro, 32, of Antioch. She lost control of the car and hit a wall at 109 MPH. She also hit a tree on Myrtle Drive in front of Myrtle Farm Montessori School. The roof of the car smashed Gaglione in the passenger seat. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Fiasconaro was found a few feet away crawling around on her hands and knees. She first said Gaglione was driving. Fiasconaro was found to have heroin and methamphetamine in her bloodstream.

Coroner’s inquests are held in all officer-involved or in-custody deaths in Contra Costa County. They are publicly held to determine the cause of death. Findings cannot be appealed. They have no criminal or civil implications. Gaglione’s death was said to have been caused by someone’s negligence and not an accident. Her father feels the police were at fault and should be fired and imprisoned.

Is a Comma Really Worth $10 Million?

April 6, 2017 | by Moseley Collins

Today, I would like to speak to you about how details are important when it comes to the practice of law. Sometimes, all it takes is one tiny little thing that can change the outcome of an entire claim.

For those who don’t know, an Oxford comma is what we also refer to as the serial comma. It is a stylistic recommendation that a comma should be used before coordinate conjunctions (usually and or or) in a series of three or more terms. This advocation exists to try and avoid ambiguity. But the world of writing seems to keep fighting a constant battle on whether this comma should be taken as a mere recommendation or something more.

The latest story comes from Maine, where a local dairy product company is facing a lawsuit for over $10 Million due in overtime hours to truck drivers, and at the heart of the dispute is the lack of this comma in a state law. In essence, the clause states that the following tasks are not eligible for overtime:

Self-Driving Cars Suspended After Uber Accident

April 4, 2017 | by Moseley Collins

California is in the forefront of the self-driving car movement. Only a few U.S. cities have these little modern wonders tooling around their streets and it will take more than the recent accident to keep them off the roads despite being suspended for a few days.

An Uber self-driving Volvo moving around Tempe, Arizona was involved in a three-vehicle wreck in March of 2017 when a driver made a left turn without being able to clearly see all lanes of oncoming traffic. The Uber approached her in the one lane she could not see and the driver crashed into it. The driver, Alexandra Cole, cited that she saw the Uber coming too late to break and struck it, sending it into a light pole, bumping into two other cars and landing on its side. The Uber was in autonomous mode but did carry two Uber employees. The company has estimated the Uber’s speed was approximately 38 mph in a 40 mph zone. No one was hurt in the accident. Uber has been operating self-driving cars in the Tempe area since December of 2016 although they have been developing the technology for a shorter time than other companies.

In response to the accident, Uber shut down its self-driving car services in Tempe, Pittsburgh and San Francisco for the whole weekend. They reopened Monday after Uber execs investigated the wreck to make sure the car was in proper working order when it was hit. The accident was determined to be Cole’s fault and she was cited.

Auto Accidents With Pedestrians Involved

May 28, 2015 | by Moseley Collins

Picture this: you are driving through your town late on a Saturday night. Suddenly, something comes out into the road. It’s a person. You try to swerve, but it’s too late. You know you have made contact.

Auto-Accidents-With-Pedestrians-Involved That is almost exactly what happened on January 17, 2015. A 73-year-old woman was walking in her town of Gatesville, Texas. When she tried to cross the street, a silver car driven by a 17-year-old boy hit her. When the police, EMS and fire department arrived, they pronounced her dead at the scene.

Whether you are driving on the highway or through a school zone, you always need to be on the lookout for pedestrians. Though it is unlikely that someone would want to try and cross a busy highway, you never know who might get out of their car on the side of the road. Hitting a pedestrian will land you in boiling hot water and can lead to both civil and criminal lawsuits. Therefore, you need to be very careful when driving anywhere you suspect pedestrians may be more common.

Las Vegas Hospital Files Defamation Case Against Attorney

July 23, 2014 | by Moseley Collins

In a surprising turn of events, a Las Vegas hospital filed a defamation lawsuit against an attorney who represents a client in a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital. Robert Cottle, a Nevada personal injury attorney, filed the medical malpractice lawsuit against Summerlin Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas alleging negligence in regard to a tuberculosis outbreak at the hospital last year that affected patients, staff and visitors of the hospital. At least 60 people tested positive for tuberculosis.

The medical malpractice lawsuit names 15 doctors and 7 nurses. During a May 13 news conference, Cottle told the story of the plaintiff, Ruben White, who lost his wife Vanessa White and his twin daughters to tuberculosis. Vanessa died in July 2013 after giving birth to twin daughters, Emma and Abigail. Neither Vanessa nor her daughters were tested for tuberculosis even though Vanessa presented symptoms associated with the disease.

The hospital’s defamation lawsuit stems from comments made by Cottle, during the May 13 news conference. With regard to the medical malpractice lawsuit, Cottle stated that there may have been a motivation to find a cause for her condition besides tuberculosis. If the cause was a different infection, the state government would not be needed to investigate. He went on to say a tuberculosis diagnosis invites oversight and opens up a can of worms.

California Woman Sues Simi Valley Hospital for Medical Malpractice

July 16, 2014 | by Moseley Collins

Patients rely on doctors and other medical professionals to maintain a standard of care when providing medical services. While instances of medical malpractice are not uncommon, some acts are so negligent that patients have no alternative but to file suit against the responsible parties. This is the case of a California woman, Carol Critchfield, who suffered four years from the negligence of medical staff during a routine surgery before she received the medical attention she needed.

In 2007, Critchfield was admitted to Simi Valley Hospital for a hysterectomy. She was a relatively healthy 56-year old woman undergoing a routine procedure. However, rather than recovering from her operation as expected, Critchfield began to experience problems shortly after being released from the hospital. Three days after coming home, she began waking up each morning dehydrated and nauseous. When she began to experience severe pain, her apprehensive husband took her to the emergency room. The emergency room personnel did not take Critchfield’s complaints very seriously. They took x-rays and concluded that it was nothing more than constipation. Critchfield was sent home.

One year later, Critchfield again had to be taken to the emergency room but this time she was experiencing blurry vision, fainting and heavy perspiration. The emergency room staff’s diagnosis was gastrointestinal issues and they advised her not to eat spicy foods. By 2011, Critchfield experienced bleeding in addition to the other symptoms she continued to experience. Suspecting an ovarian cyst, her gynecologist recommended that she have her ovaries removed. It was at this time that the surgeon discovered a sponge that had been left inside her during the previous surgery. Scar tissue had developed around the sponge. In order to remove the sponge, the surgeon had to remove a large section of her intestine.

If Your Personal Injury Attorney Drops Your Case, Don’t Give Up

November 26, 2012 | by Moseley Collins

Do not worry if your lawyer says that your case is not worthy of being taken to the court. You should look for another personal injury lawyer. There is no shortage of lawyers out there. However, not all lawyers are ready to invest the time and effort to handle your case. Read on to find out more about what you should do if your lawyer drops your case.

Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency basis. Your lawyer will have to negotiate with the lawyer of the opposing party in order to recover the right amount of compensation. So, the role of the lawyer is very important in this case.

Some attorneys, however, take slam-dunk lawsuits. This means they take only those case that they can easily win. This type of lawyers does not want to spend the required amount of time and effort to research the case. It goes without saying that complicated cases are not easy to handle.

Female Sacramento Attorney Viciously Attacked By Dog, Part 7 of 7.

May 24, 2009 | by Moseley Collins

V. ECONOMIC DAMAGES
Past Economic Damages:
Meridian Resource Company $ 21,454.67
Valley MRI & Family Imaging Center $ 1,306.80
Central Anesthesia Medical Group, Inc. $ 100.32
Northern California Cardiology Associates Med. Grp. $ 32.00
Mark Hambly, M.D. $ 658.26
Jeff Jones, M.D. $ 2,693.00
Randall Armstrong, MD $ 220.00
Roseville Memorial Hospital $ 1,079.27
EMPI $ 73.75
HealthCare Clinical Laboratories $ 406.00
Sutter General Hospital (deductible) $ 1,508.13
Ramnick Clair, M.D. (estimate) $ 1,200.00
Roseville Delta Emergency Physicians $ 354.92
St. Joseph’s Medical Center $ 6,461.25
Smallie Chiropractic $ 944.35
Roseville Physical Therapy $ 1,186.00
Richard Harty, P.T. $ 270.00
Prescriptions $ 1,595.57
Total Past Medical $ 41,544.29
Past Wage Loss $ 67,465.56
Future Wage Loss $ 674,655.60
Total Wage Loss $ 742,121.16
Richard Harty, P.T. $ 360.00
Roseville Physical Therapy $ 1,200.00
Surgery $ 125,000.00
Medication $ 41,760.00
Physical Therapy $ 50,112.00
Total Future Medical $ 218,432.00
TOTAL ECONOMIC DAMAGES $ 1,002,097.45

Copies of her bills are referenced herein.

Please note, Ms. Rich’s wage loss and medical damages are increasing weekly.

VI. PUNITIVE DAMAGES

As discussed above, defendant, Paul Stevens, had already signed a document acknowledging the subject dog Franz was a vicious dog that had to be restrained. Despite this and with a conscious disregard for the safety of others, Paul Stevens permitted the dog to run free and attack Ms. Stevens.

We have sued Mr. Stevens for punitive damages. As you know, punitive damages, if awarded, must be paid personally by Mr. Stevens. It will not be paid by his insurance.

A failure by Allstate Insurance Company to settle this case will expose Mr. Stevens to financial ruin.

Sacramento-area Farmer Catastrophically Injured In Tour Bus Accident, Part 6 of 6.

May 23, 2009 | by Moseley Collins

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the proceedings.)

Defendant driver, Bobbi Jones, had driven this trip 17 of the 19 years that it had taken place, and prior to this year she had never had a problem. This year, however, despite all the problems that defendant driver caused, she still believed her driving was up to par. In her deposition taken on May 15, 2007, she testified:

“Q. Now, in the other 16 years you drove, do you recall making any driver error?