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Inman v. Sacramento Regional Transit District3/28/2003
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
Plaintiff Sharon Inman sued defendant Sacramento Regional Transit District (Regional Transit) for personal injuries suffered when a Regional Transit bus rear-ended her Saturn at the intersection of Broadway and 21st Street in Sacramento. The jury returned a 9 to 3 verdict in favor of Regional Transit.
On appeal from the judgment and order denying her motion for new trial, Inman argues: (1) the court erred in excluding Regional Transit's pretrial admission that the collision was "preventable"; (2) jury misconduct tainted the proceedings and deprived her of the constitutional right to a fair trial; and (3) there is insufficient evidence to support the defense verdict. We affirm the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Inman was driving westbound on Broadway near 21st Street the morning of February 19, 1998. It had been raining, the traffic was heavy, and a disabled vehicle and police cars were stopped in the left lane. Also headed westbound in the right lane was a Regional Transit bus driven by Robbie Clark. Clark observed Inman's red Saturn in front of him while he waited for the signal light to change to green at the intersection of 21st and Broadway.
When the light changed, Clark waited for the cars in front of him to start moving before accelerating. He followed Inman's Saturn at a distance that allowed him to see the driver -- between one and one-and- a-half car lengths. Inman stopped abruptly, and the bus rear-ended the Saturn.
There was conflicting testimony on whether the light was green or yellow when Inman stopped in front of the bus, and whether she had entered the intersection. Inman testified she stopped just behind the first line of the crosswalk when the light turned yellow. She thought she was going too slowly to make it through the intersection before the light turned red.
Clark testified Inman's car entered the crosswalk, and made an abrupt stop when the light was green. Nikki Corbett, a passenger on the bus, agreed that Inman made an abrupt stop after crossing into, and partially through, the crosswalk. Corbett saw nothing in the roadway that would have caused Inman to make a sudden stop.
Sacramento Police Officer Marta-Bella Bauer was assisting the stalled vehicle near the intersection of 21st Street and Broadway at the time the collision occurred. She heard a noise that caused her to glance toward the intersection when the accident was still in motion. Bauer immediately looked up at the traffic signal, and noted it was "`just turning red from yellow.'"
The accident reconstruction experts did not agree on the position of Inman's car at the time of impact. However, the evidence showed that the bus was traveling at eight to fourteen miles per hour at the time it hit the Saturn. The force of the collision caused the driver's seat to collapse backward. Inman was treated at Kaiser for pain in her neck, upper back, and head.
At trial, Inman testified at length about her history of back and neck pain. Inman described an October 1993 incident in which she hurt her back when she slipped and fell on cookie crumbs at a Macy's store. She missed three months' work but recovered completely.
Inman's credibility was a pivotal issue that Regional Transit's counsel addressed in closing argument. He argued that credibility was important i
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