By: Trial attorneys, Jeffrey T. Roberts and Michael Jeandron, obtained a $1,500,000 jury verdict in Orange County Superior Court for an off-duty police officer who was the victim in a SUV versus motorcycle collision. The contested liability trial lasted for four weeks.
Plaintiff, an off-duty police officer, was severely injured while riding his personal motorcycle home after work in December 2014. A left-turning SUV, failing to yield the right-of-way, pulled out from a stop sign in front of him. Plaintiff was ejected from his motorcycle onto the hood of the SUV, cracking the windshield as he landed, sustaining, among other injuries, a fractured femur, which required two surgeries to repair.
Throughout trial, the Defense denied liability for Plaintiff’s harms. The Defense argued that Plaintiff was speeding, and that the collision would not have occurred if he had been traveling the speed limit. The jury flatly rejected the Defense’s argument, finding Plaintiff to be 0% responsible for the collision, and instead, held the Defendant 100% responsible.
The jury awarded Plaintiff money damages for his medical expenses, past lost earnings, past physical pain and suffering, future physical pain and suffering, and a substantial sum for future lost earnings and benefits despite the Defense’s argument that he was entitled to a much lesser sum.