In the case of Hozelito Duric v. Lucreta Kathryn Morris Taylor, filed in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, Division Eight (Case No. B325272) on May 6, 2024, the plaintiff, Hozelito Duric, sought damages following a motor vehicle collision. The lawsuit centers around a $1.4 million judgment awarded to Duric after a jury trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court (Case No. BC707490).
The incident occurred in spring 2018 when Duric was riding an electric motorcycle and collided with Taylor's car in Palos Verdes Estates. Both parties presented evidence alleging each other's negligence; Duric highlighted Taylor's unsignaled lane change while Taylor pointed to Duric's speeding. The trial included discussions on various jury instructions regarding sudden emergency and imminent peril.
Duric is seeking affirmation of the $1.4 million judgment for damages caused by Taylor’s negligence as determined by the jury verdict which found no contributory negligence on his part.
Taylor is appealing on the basis that the trial court committed instructional error by including 'Book of Approved Jury Instructions' No. 4.41 (BAJI) which concerns legal causations for self-inflicting injuries resulting from a person's effort to escape a perilous situation.
Justices Grimes, Stratton and Wiley all concur that since the potential error did not prejudice the defenses case, that there is no need to rule on whether there was an error to give BAJI 4.41.
Duric's legal team comprised Armen Akaragian and Adam Feit from Mardirossian Akaragian, along with Jeffrey I. Ehrlich from The Ehrlich Law Firm. Taylor was represented by Jonathan Z. Morris, Mitchell C. Tilner, Dean Bochner from Horvitz & Levy, and Thomas W. Shaver from Shaver, Korff & Castronovo.