CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Charles LiMandri delivering his opening statement
San Diego, CA - A California state court jury heard opening statements in a lawsuit blaming supposedly dangerous road conditions for a crash that caused serious injuries to four people - including one who is paralyzed - while driving home from an outdoor party, and the full trial is being webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff attorney Charles LiMandri of LiMandri & Jonna asked the San Diego County jury on September 10 to award $24 million in economic damages and unspecified future non-economic damages to his four clients, blaming the California Department of Transportation, or CALTRANS, for allegedly allowing a dangerous berm to develop on the gravel shoulder of an unmarked curve that driver Landen Kornacki claims caused him to lose control of his vehicle and slam head-on into an oncoming pickup truck.
LiMandri told jurors CALTRANS failed to properly inspect the site for years and characterized the curve as an “accident waiting to happen,” however CALTRANS argued Kornacki was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time and is entirely responsible for the crash.
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LiMandri, who also represents the two occupants of the oncoming pickup truck, Maria Herrera and Caledonio Hernandez, described how Kornacki, passenger and co-plaintiff Elizabeth Garrett and two other passengers drove home heading west on SR-78 towards Rancho Bernardo after a celebration at Santa Ysabel Creek on August 8, 2023.
LiMandri explained how Kornacki, who he insisted was not impaired at the time, approached the curve with no warning to reduce his speed, a pattern LiMandri said caused many other previous drivers to slip onto the shoulder and over time cause a berm to develop.
“That’s why all these cars go off here,” LiMandri told the jury, according to CVN’s webcast of the trial. “The centrifugal force is pulling them and there’s no margin for error because the shoulder is so narrow.”
He described the berm as between five and six inches deep, a depth that he said can cause a small compact car like Kornacki’s to spin out of control.
“If they’re more than two inches deep it can be difficult for a car to regain access to the roadway, particularly a smaller car,” LiMandri explained.
He accused CALTRANS of failing to inspect the site since 2021, and he noted numerous other curves have clear signage indicating a speed reduction.
Kornacki pled guilty to a felony DUI charge after the accident, however LiMandri insisted he never actually recorded a .08 percent blood alcohol reading and his friends would testify at trial he was not impaired.
LiMandri urged jurors not to let the initial guilty plea and conviction sway them, noting that at the time Kornacki and the criminal court were unaware of the dangerous condition defense. Based on those claims, LiMandri said Kornacki was later allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and the conviction was dismissed. He also noted he made the guilty plea with zero memory of the actual crash due to his TBI.
He asked jurors to award $16 million to Garrett, who suffered a severed spinal cord at the L2 vertebrae. He argued Kornacki suffered a serious brain injury and developed a seizure disorder, while Maria Herrera had both of her feet amputated and Caledonio Hernandez suffered injuries that eventually developed into Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
Representing CALTRANS, staff attorney Anna Savino acknowledged the catastrophic nature of the injuries but insisted Kornacki was responsible.
“The existence of serious injuries does not tell you who is responsible for causing this accident,” she told the jury. “Because of Landon’s choices and actions that day people were seriously injured.”
CVN screenshot of CALTRANS defense attorney Anna Sevino delivering her opening statement
Savino argued if the curve was as dangerous a condition as LiMandri argued it would have caused far more accidents given the volume of traffic at the site, and that it was inspected in compliance with standard CALTRANS timetables for monitoring roadside maintenance conditions.
She insisted that despite the guilty plea being withdrawn and charges dismissed that Kornacki still made a sworn statement under penalty of perjury that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, adding that police found alcohol in Kornacki's car taken from the creekside party.
Savino asked jurors to treat the claim that the criminal court failed to properly consider the roadside condition with skepticism, a defense she pointed out was never raised by his criminal defense attorney.
“Now when responsibility for the accident has financial consequences the roadway becomes part of the explanation,” she noted.
The trial is taking place before Judge Kevin Enright and could take up to 10 weeks to complete. CVN’s live and on-demand coverage will continue for the duration of the proceedings.
The case is captioned Elizabeth Garrett, et al. v. California Department of Transportation (“CALTRANS”), case number 37-2024-00018444-CU-PO-CTL in San Diego County Superior Court.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
