Big claim against Toyota to follow
By Kelly Nix The Carmel Pine Cone
THE PACIFIC GROVE TEENAGER paralyzed in a 2010 crash in Skyline Forest has accepted a $1.3 million offer to settle a lawsuit she filed against the 19-year-old drunken driver, the teen who hosted the party where alcohol was served before the crash, and his mother and stepfather. Documents filed in Monterey County Superior Court March 4 show that Chelsie Hill will receive $1,339,500 from driver Aaron Corn, the teen party host, Christopher “CJ” Veloz, and his mother, Vicki Courtney, and stepfather, Jim Courtney. Almost all the money will come from their insurance companies. “This is a tentative settlement,” Hill’s attorney, Robert E. Rosenthal, told The Pine Cone. “It should be finalized in a couple of weeks.” Matthew Wheeler, another teen seriously injured in the wreck, also tentatively agreed to settle with the defendants for $150,000. And two other injured passengers in the Toyota 4Runner, Ahmad Mahmoud and Eric Miller, agreed to settle their damage claims for $10,000 and $500, respectively, according to court records.
Hill and Wheeler filed personal injury lawsuits in August 2010 against the three defendants seeking damages for medical expenses, wage loss and loss of earnings as a result of the Feb. 21, 2010, crash. Their suits were later consolidated. Last week, a judge sentenced Corn, who was drunk when he crashed the Toyota 4Runner on Skyline Drive, to more than seven years in prison for the wreck. The settlement was negotiated with insurance company attorneys and presumably reflects the maximum amounts available for a single accident. However, the settlement is a “drop in the bucket” of Hill’s past and future medical expenses, not to mention the pain she’s gone through, Rosenthal said. “In the 35 years I’ve been practicing law, Chelsie is the best client I have ever had,” Rosenthal said. “She is the best witness, has the best demeanor, and she has the best spirit and outlook.” And, to get more money for his client, Rosenthal said within a couple of weeks he will file a lawsuit against Toyota for the injuries Hill received from wearing a lap-only seat belt — not a lap-and-shoulder seat belt, which was lacking in the rear middle seat of the 1996 Toyota 4Runner where Hill was seated. “Chelsie’s injures from the lap belt were very severe and were the cause of her paralysis,” Rosenthal told The Pine Cone. Hill was the only passenger wearing a lap-only seat belt in the 4Runner. The other passengers were wearing lap-and-shoulder belts. Though Rosenthal didn’t specify the how much they are seeking from Toyota, it will likely be in the millions.
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for product liability claims against automakers over seat-belt designs after it ruled that a family of a woman killed in 2002 who was wearing a lap-only seat belt could sue Mazda, even though the 1993 minivan met federal vehicle safety standards at the time.
On the night of the crash, according to witnesses, several teens went to Veloz’s house after a basketball game between P.G. High and Carmel High. Hill told an officer that Corn invited her to the party via text message. At about 3:30 a.m., Corn got behind the wheel, and five other teens crammed into the Toyota, which only had five seats. Corn dropped off two teens not long before losing control of the vehicle and colliding with a tree. Jim Courtney, Veloz’s stepfather and the owner of the Pacific Grove house where the party was hosted, is a Monterey Fire captain who responded to the 2010 crash. Addressing Superior Court Judge Russell Scott last week at Corn’s sentencing, Courtney said his heart sank when he arrived to the scene of the 2010 crash and recognized the Toyota 4Runner, which Corn had taken without permission from his home. “I didn’t know if it was my kids or whose kids were in there,” he said. “We had to save Chelsie’s life and Aaron’s life.” Courtney also mentioned the litigation, saying, “My wife and my kids, we are facing consequences of this lawsuit.”
Though the Courtneys were not home at the time of the party, Hill and Wheeler’s lawsuit held them responsible for furnishing alcohol to Corn and other teen partygoers and contend their actions “were a legal cause” of Hill and Wheeler’s injuries
