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| Disposition:
(Settlement/Arbitration/Trial) |
Trial |
Date: |
2/23/1990 |
Type of Case: |
Other |
Allegation(s): |
Negligence -- Gunshot Wound |
Result: |
$195,000 + $10,000 (loss of consortium to
husband) |
Case Name: |
Holland-Suppa v. Portillo, et al. |
Facts: |
October 4, 1985, plaintiff, a 29-year-old schoolteacher, was injured when she was struck by a bullet fired from a 7.62-milllmeter Russian-made rifle owned by defendant Jose Portillo. Plaintiff was standing in front of her junior high school class at Mammoth Lakes Junior High School when the accident occurred. Defendants, including one Rudy Kerkhof, were firing the rifle at two boulders at the top of a ridge not far from the town of Mammoth Lakes. Defendants fired three rounds across a road from a parking lot. They did not go to the top of the ridge, from which they could have seen the town of Mammoth Lakes. In fact, defendants had driven from the town that morning to the area where they were shooting.
It was stipulated that the bullet which struck plaintiff was fired from defendant Portillo's rifle. It was further stipulated that defendants were the only individuals firing the rifle on the day in question.
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| Injury/Injuries: |
Plaintiff's doctors testified that she suffered a fracture of the distal humerus of the right, major arm, requiring debridement and five to six months of physical therapy; that she was left with a 10" loss of range of motion in the right elbow; that she developed a post-traumatic stress disorder, with nightmares and intrusive thoughts of the subject incident, which turned into an obsessive-compulsive disorder; and that she would need additional surgery and ongoing psychiatric care.
Plaintiff's husband sued for loss of consortium.
Medicals to date: $20,000
Future medicals: $35,000
Wage loss to date: $35,000
Future wage loss: $22,000
Workers' Compensation lien: $37,500
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| Contentions: |
Plaintiff's husband sued for loss of consortium.
Plaintiff contended that defendants were negligent and failed to follow basic rules of firearm safety; that they failed to confirm what lay beyond their target; that they failed to use a target with a safe backdrop to "catch" any stray bullet, since the boulders were only some 20 yards down from the top of the ridge and even a slight movement in the elevation of the rifle would easily cause a bullet to miss the boulders and clear the ridge; that defendants fired a high-powered rifle in the direction of the town of Mammoth Lakes, some two miles away; and that defendants were jointly liable, since it could not be determined which defendant fired the shot in question, pursuant to Ybarra v. Spangard (1944) 25 Cal.2d 483 and Summers v. Tice (1948) 33 Cal.2d 80.
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| Special Notes: |
The stray
bullet entered a classroom through a window
and narrowly missed students. The bullet
struck an empty desk and the teacher.
<
back to Other Legal Cases involving
Medical Malpractice, Negligence and Wrongful
Death from The Law Offices of
Robert Vaage and www.vaagelaw.com
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