A lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles-area mother was recently dismissed by the California Court of Appeals. The lawsuit involves Dina A. Barkus, who lost her son Logan Barkus in August 2008 when he was hit and killed by a driver.
Dina sued the driver, 18-year-old Jennifer White, alleging that Jennifer was negligent in failing to use her high-beam headlights and for looking at her radio just before hitting 17-year-old Logan Barkus in Lancaster.
Jennifer claimed that she was not negligent and that Logan was negligent by stepping from the median strip onto the roadway.
A jury agreed and found that Jennifer was not negligent in causing Logan’s death. The trial court judge disagreed with this verdict and set it aside.
Jennifer appealed, and the trial court ordered a new trial (disregarding the appeal court’s instruction to find in Jennifer’s favor.)
The most recent appeal, in this case, was recently decided and the appellate court reinstated its directive for the trial court to find in Jennifer’s favor. It noted that its decision became the “law of the case” and that the trial court did not have legal standing to order a new trial.