Law Offices of P. Paul Aghabala
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Vol 8. Issue 17 | April 20, 2009
PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY(S) P. Paul Aghabala, Law Office of P. Paul Aghabala,
Woodland Hills, CADEFENSE ATTORNEY(S) Howard A. Slavin, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard @ Smith LLP, Los Angeles, CA
FACTS & ALLEGATIONS On Oct. 1, 2005, plaintiff Merridy Cress, 60s, retired due to disability, was assaulted during a concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Cress attended the concert with her fiancé. Another concert-goer, Marcia Cooper, appeared to be inebriated while David Benoit was performing and obstructed the views of other concert-goers by standing up in front of them. Other concert-goers yelled at her to sit down, but she refused. After Benoit's performance, Cooper left briefly and returned with half-litter bottle of wine and three empty glasses for herself and her two companions. Cooper continued to stand up and obstruct the view of others while Kenny G was performing. When Cress's fiancé asked Cooper's fiancé to sit down, Cooper turned around and began yelling profanities at him and Cress. Cress's fiance complained to an usher, who said that there was nothing they could do about Cooper's behavior. Cooper continued to verbally and physically threaten Cress and her finace. When they changed seats, Cooper followed them. Two ushers spoke to Cooper at that point, but did not eject her from the concert. Cress and her fiance decided to leave the concert early; Cooper followed them and punched Cress in the left temple, causing her to fall, and then kicked her. At that point, ushers and security intervened. Cress wanted to press charges against Cooper, but somebody convinced her not to press charges by telling her that she would also be charged. The police then mistakenly took down the information for Cooper's friend and not Cooper. Cooper was never charged criminally because of the error by the police or the Greek Theater staff. The grounds for ejecting a patron from a concert included interfering with other's enjoyment of the concert, making threats, or being inconsiderate. Two others people beside Cress's fiance had complained about Cooper's behavior during the concert, but she was never ejected. There were 15 off-duty police officers present at the concert, but they were mostly outside of the venue and were not near Section C, where Cress and Cooper were sitting. The Captain in charge of Section C had left her post while the incident was occurring. Furthermore, only Captains and two of the 15 off-duty officers had walkie-talkies for the purposes of communicating with each other. Cress sued Neederlander Greek Inc., the operator of the Greek Theater, for premises liability and negligence. She also sued Cooper, but Cooper could not be found for purposes of civil litigation. Cress alleged that Neederlander Greek provide negligent and inadequate security, because the ushers did not have adequate training to deal with intoxicated people and the defendant did not follow its own policies regarding ejection. The plaintiff liability expert testified that the ushers did not have adequate training to deal with intoxicated or belligerent people; it was inadequate and negligent that only captains and two off-duty officers had walkie-talkies; Section C had basically no security at the time of the incident; and the defendant was negligent not following its own rules regarding ejection. Neederlander Greek argued that it provided adequate security, and that this was a random act of violence, while it could not have foreseen. The defense liability expert testified that the defendant provided security that was customary for the type of venue. INJURIES/DAMAGES aggravation of preexisting condition; agoraphobia; depression; emotional distress; eye; neck; post-traumatic stress; psychiatric impairment. Cress sustained posterior vitreous detachment as a result of the puch. She sees flashes and floaters, and the eye damage is permanent. She also went to an emergency room a couple of times because of neck pains. Cress alleged emotional distress, including agoraphobia, post traumatic stress disorder and depression. She was a three time cancer survivor who had experienced a hear attack about one year before the accident and had high blood pressure. Stress related to the incident aggravated her heart problems and high blood pressure, and caused her to fear the recurrence of cancer. Cress underwent several therapy sessions, and was hospitalizes at a psychiatric ward for a few days because of the incident. She will need future psychiatric treatment. The plaintiff ophthalmology expert testified that Cress sustained posterior vitreous detachment as a result of the punch, that she sees flashes and floaters, and that her symptoms are permanent. The plaintiff psychiatry expert testified that she would never recover from the incident without major treatment; she developed post traumatic stress disorder and became suicidal, and it affected her relationship with her finace to the point that they broke up. The plaintiff internal medicine expert testified about medical expert testified that stress from the incident aggravated her high blood pressure and heart problems, caused her to hospitalized, and caused her to develop post traumatic stress disorder. Cross sought approximately $100,000 for past medical expenses, $1 million for future medical expenses, $1 million for past pain and suffering, and $2 for future pain and suffering. The defense orthopedics expert testified that Cress did not have orthopedic injuries, and that her neck problems were caused by age and degenerative conditions; she developed a sprain or strain that should have resolved, and needed no future treatment. The defense psychiatry expert testified that Cress's breakup with her fiance caused her emotional problems, and that incident with Cooper did not lead to the breakup. A domestic violence incident occurred prior to the breakup. RESULT The jury found for Cress, and awarded her $1.05 million. The jury found that Neederlander Greek was 60 percent liable, and that Cooper was 40 percent liable. After certain considerations, the judgment was $770,000.
