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Los Angeles Hit and Run Pedestrian Accident Leaves Girl With Traumatic Brain Injury
July 08, 2008

Ricardo Tomas Guevara can try all he wants to defend his mindset as he fled from the scene of a pedestrian accident in Wilmington on April 9, leaving two young girls severely injured. But the fact is that what he did was not just illegal, but completely shameful and unethical. One of those girls, Kelsey Fukuda, suffered such severe brain injuries she has essentially been rendered paralyzed. Her right side is completely paralyzed, and she has painfully little movement in the left side of her body. She rarely opens her eyes, never speaks and nobody knows if she can recognize anybody. Kelsey is all of 14-years-old.

On April 9, Kelsey and her friend, Elizabeth Salas, were walking on a crosswalk at Pacific Coast Highways, and Ronan Avenue. Suddenly, a black car came speeding down the road and hit the two girls. Both girls were thrown up in the air, and smashed against the ground. Elizabeth escaped with a broken leg and other injuries to her head. Kelsey bore the brunt of the impact; her brain injuries were so severe, doctors had to open up a portion of her skull to ease the pressure on her brain. After extensive surgery and a series of complications, including seizures and blood pressure issues, Kelsey waits to begin to resume at least a sense of the life she had earlier. She will need extensive speech therapy, but experts say that even if there is any progress in that department, it will come only sometime in the future.

And what did Guevara do after he managed to hit two girls? He actually drove on to his sister's house, leaving the two bodies lying there in the middle of the road. When questioned about his reasons for fleeing the scene of the pedestrian accident, Guevara now has the audacity to claim that he didn't really leave the scene of the accident. No. He was actually driving to his sister's house to get emergency help. Because 911 wasn't available...? Or because his sister is a paramedic...? Or maybe Guevara thought the thing that came flying out of nowhere and landed on his windshield before slipping off and onto the ground was an animal of some sort, so he didn't see the need to stop and inspect the damage.

Whatever the reason for his flight, Guevara's having a hard time convincing anybody of his intentions. The fact is that this brash young man not only drive recklessly in a school zone - well above the specified speed limit for a school zone, police say - but he also neglected to at least save some face by getting them to a hospital on time. Instead, he left them there, battered and broken, one of them already unconscious, and he drove on to his sister's house to escape the law.

Hearings have concluded in the case, and Guevara is expected to be charged with leaving the scene of the pedestrian accident, with a maximum punishment of up to 4 years. That's right, It could be actually less than 4 years for this man. 4 years for effectively ruining a young girls' life, or at least leaving her a shell of her former self with very little hope for a full recovery. The Fukuda family should consider all their options to make sure that they get the compensation they deserve.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of brain injuries. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

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Brain Injury Survivor Works for Rehabilitation of Patients
May 22, 2008

Talk about making lemonade from lemons. One Stratford man is taking his experience of Traumatic Brian Injury to help other survivors like him.

Sears Craig would have had just another ordinary life if it wasn't for a motorcycle accident that occurred twenty years ago. Craig, then an optimistic 20-year-old, was riding his motorcycle, when he was struck by a car and thrown 40 feet. He had no helmet on. His head crashed against the curb, resulting in severe brain injury.

The days after the accident were crucial. Craig was in a coma for a while, and when he woke up, he was at St Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut. From there, he was transferred to Gaylord Rehabilitation Center in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Rehabilitation was a mild term to express the level of relearning that Craig now had ahead of him. His brain injury had left him incapable of performing the most basic activities - how to eat, walk, talk, the basic activities that we take for granted. This was just the beginning of the long struggle ahead for Craig. His blocked memory and other problems brought on by the brain injury meant that he often found himself using his wheelchair to leave the facility. After one outing too many, the center reached the end of its tether and transferred him to a mental health ward.

After months in a mental ward that he didn't belong in, Craig fought and won the right to leave. He moved into his own apartment, but the lack of support and rehabilitation for people with brain injuries like him was a big problem. Craig found himself constantly being discriminated against because of the lack of equilibrium, the slurred speech - all characteristic of brain injuries.

Before long, feeling desperate and out of control of himself, Craig fell into bad company and turned to drugs. The drug use led Craig to a level four, high security prison, where he shared cell space with rapists and murderers. There was absolutely no help for his mental condition, or awareness of it. He was locked up in a tiny cell for five years. When he was released, he became part of a lawsuit brought by people with traumatic brain injuries in the nineties.

Now out of prison, Craig has devoted the rest of his life to raising awareness of traumatic brain injury and the need for rehabilitation and special support for these people. He has collaborated with Goodwill to set up support groups where people suffering from traumatic brain injuries are invited to spend a few hours in the company of others like them, and share experiences and support each other. Away from the isolation of their lives and the company of people who don't understand what it's like to forget how to brush your teeth, or open your car door, these people can learn to cope with their special disability.

Thousands of people suffer brain injuries brought on by accidents every year, especially motorcycle accidents and pedestrian accidents. It takes just a split second for a brain shattering accident to take place, but years before the person can even regain any semblance of their former life.

If you or a loved one has suffered brain injuries in an accident, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Largest Personal Injury Lawsuit in Ventura County
March 21, 2008

The largest settlement in the world couldn't give Dawn Renae Diaz her health or her happiness back, and it certainly couldn't give her back the time she has lost with her daughter because of her injuries. There really isn't enough money in the world to compensate for the loss of things like these.

The personal injury settlement that she will now receive, however - at $22.5 million dollars, the largest ever in Ventura County history - will lead to the end of her financial woes. Most importantly, it will reunite Dawn with her young daughter, Mikaela.

38-year-old Dawn, a former head emergency room nurse at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, was left severely injured after a car accident on January 20, 2006. The sequence of tragic events unfolded as a Peterbilt box truck, driving at 55 mph, and a pickup truck were involved in a collision on the Conejo Grade. That collision sent the pickup truck over the center divider and on to Diaz's car.

The nurse suffered severe brain injuries that resulted in brain damage.

The driver of the pickup truck and Karen Tagliaferri, the driver of the pickup truck, were both held responsible for the accident. The Peterbilt truck driver, Jose Gerardo Carcamo, worked for the Sugar Transport Company and was delivering wine from South Gate. Investigations would later reveal the hand the trucking company that HIRED Carcamo would have in this ghastly tragedy.

In later investigations it was revealed that the Stockton-based Sugar Transport never sent anybody to hand Carcamo his training manual or give him safety instructions. The company hadn't bothered to give training to its California drivers. It was also reveled that Carcamo's previous employer told his new employers that he was an unsafe driver, and that he had been fired from his previous job for exactly this reason. The most damning testimony came from Sugar Transport's own hiring officer, who said that the company rushed to fill empty driver seats without making necessary checks into employee credentials.

In other words, they took willful risks with the safety of others on the street, by sending out less than adept drivers who had a record of unsafe driving behind the wheels of their gargantuan vehicles. They saw no reason to train their truck drivers, and didn't see it fit to upgrade safety instructions. Simply put, they didn't give a hoot.

Meanwhile Dawn struggled with her severely restricted mobility after the accident. She still has double vision, and experiences difficulty walking and talking. A few weeks after the accident, she suffered the severest punishment of all - she lost custody of her 10-year-old daughter Mikaela after a court judged she was unable to look after her daughter.

With this award, a number of Dawn's problems will be solved. She will be able to pay off the medical bills that have accumulated since the accident. She will also be able to hire a nanny for her daughter, which means that the little girl will be reunited with her mother.

When back breaking settlement awards like this are handed out, it helps instill a sense of fear in owners of trucking companies, fears that will help them take every trucking safety precaution that is necessary or risk facing bankruptcy.

If you have suffered a head injury in an accident, you need the help of a California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Jury Recommends San Diego Man Be Paid $15.7 Million by City of Los Angeles
December 27, 2007

A jury has recommended that the city of Los Angeles pay $15.7 million to San Diego resident Barry Bowman as compensation for brain injuries that resulted from a motorcycle accident.

The accident dates back to 2005, when Bowman a 62-year-old retired police officer was struck by a dump truck while riding his motorcycle. The truck was operated by a company called Tommie Wyatt Trucking that had been hired by the city to haul asphalt.

Bowman suffered severe brain injuries as a result of the accident. He suffered short-term memory loss and is now dependant on 24-hour care for his daily needs.

The days that followed saw a lot of haranguing over whether the driver of the truck was actually on duty at the time of the accident. The city argues that he was off duty, and hence the city couldn't be held liable. They also disagreed strongly with attorneys for Bowman about the speed of the truck at the time of the accident. Although both sides attempted to reach a settlement there was a vast difference in the amounts offered and sought - Bowman demanded $18 million while city of Los Angeles attorneys were not willing to go above $50,000.  Last week, a jury decided that Bowman's figure seemed more fitting to the severity of the victim's condition.

If you or a family member has suffered brain injuries or any other horrifying injury due to no fault of your own, contact the California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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Injured California Teenager Receives $9 Million Personal Injury Settlement
September 29, 2007

According to the Los Angeles Times, the City of San Dimas, California has reached a settlement of $9 million with the family of a young girl who suffers from severe brain injuries.

In 2005, 16-year-old Samantha Palumbo was driving through San Dimas, California when her car slammed into a city built wooden fence. The logs in the fence pierced through the car and into her head, leaving her with severe brain injuries. Now 18 years old, Samantha a former top student and beauty pageant winner, is confined to a wheel chair and relies on 24 hour care provided by her parents. She communicates through hand signals, and has spent the two years since the accident trying to regain control of basic motor functions.

Her parents sued the City of San Dimas, California on her behalf claiming that it was the unsafe fence that caused their daughter's condition. The city has made no admission of liability, but attorneys say they're happy to be of help to Samantha.

Samantha's parents plan to use the settlement money to provide her with the kind of specialized care she needs, pay for her education and housing that will accommodate her disabilities. They also plan to continue treatment for their daughter's condition. All signs are that Samantha is making progress, and she underwent another surgery this week to cover a hole in her forehead.

When a person suffers personal injury due to the negligence of another party, he or she may be entitled to monetary compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages etc. When a government entity such as a city, state or county government is negligent, it is critical to act quickly to protect your rights. Government claims must be filed within a very short period of time, or you may lose you right to collect the compensation you deserve. The California brain injury lawyers at The Reeves Law Group have been very successful in pursuing cases where injury was caused by negligence of others. Call our lawyers for a free consultation.

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