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DeForrest v. City of Cherry Hills Village11/21/2002
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
Jones and Casebolt, JJ., concur
Plaintiff, William DeForrest (husband), individually and as executor and personal representative of the Estate of Julie DeForrest, appeals from a partial summary judgment in favor of defendants, City of Cherry Hills Village, City of Greenwood Village, and Officer Glenn Bailey, Jr., and entry of judgment in the amount of $120,000. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.
On October 6, 1995, husband's wife died in a traffic accident at the intersection of Belleview and South Holly Street. Belleview is an east-west state highway that forms the border between Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village, and Holly is a north-south street that transverses both towns.
Before the collision, the traffic signals at the intersection were not functioning properly as a result of a power failure. In response, Greenwood Village Public Works placed six portable stop signs at the intersection to control traffic.
Subsequently, Officer Bailey went to the intersection and found that the signal lights were functioning properly. He thereafter removed two portable stop signs controlling westbound traffic on Belleview and then removed the single stop sign controlling southbound traffic on Holly. Before the police officer could remove the remaining signs, a vehicle traveling northbound on Holly entered the intersection and collided with Julie DeForrest's vehicle, which was traveling westbound on Belleview.
Husband brought this action for wrongful death against defendants, the State of Colorado, and the manufacturer of the car. He reached pretrial settlements with the state and the manufacturer, and each was dismissed. As pertinent here, husband settled with the state for $30,000.
Defendants then filed motions for summary judgment based on immunity under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (GIA), § 24-10-101, et seq., C.R.S. 2002. The trial court denied the motions, and defendants filed an interlocutory appeal to this court. A division of this court held that defendants' sovereign immunity was waived pursuant to an express immunity waiver under the GIA, § 24-10-106(1)(d)(II), C.R.S. 2002. DeForrest v. City of Cherry Hills Village, 990 P.2d 1139 (Colo. App. 1999).
After remand, defendants served husband with a statutory offer of settlement in the amount of $120,001, based on the GIA's $150,000 limitation on damages, § 24-10-114(1), C.R.S. 2002, minus the settlement received from the state. After husband rejected the offer, defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the application of the GIA damages limitation. The trial court granted the motion, concluding that the GIA limited husband's maximum recovery against these defendants to $120,000. Defendants then confessed judgment in the amount of $120,000, and the trial court entered judgment in that amount.
I.
Our review of an order granting a motion for summary judgment is de novo. Aspen Wilderness Workshop, Inc. v. Colorado Water Conservation Board, 901 P.2d 1251 (Colo. 1995). Summary judgment is a drastic remedy and should be granted only upon a clear showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Compass Insurance Co. v. City of Littleton, 984 P.2d 606 (Colo. 1999).
II.
Husband asserts that the trial court erred in concluding that his recovery is limited to $150,000. Specifically, he asserts that there are two plaintiffs, each with a separate claim: (1) himself, as an individual, bringing a
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