$11.7 Million Verdict for Family of Man Killed on Gravel-Covered Road During Contra Costa County Resurfacing Project
Won by GJEL Accident Attorneys.
A jury awarded $11.7 million to the family of William Tindall, killed on Marsh Creek Road while stopping to help another motorist during a county road resurfacing project that had already claimed a life five days earlier.
What happened
In August 2008, William Tindall pulled over on Marsh Creek Road in Contra Costa County to assist a driver whose vehicle had run off a curve covered with freshly laid gravel. As he stepped out of his car to help, another vehicle lost control at the same spot and struck him. He died from his injuries.
The hazard that killed him was not new. Just five days before his death, a woman had been killed at the same construction zone when her car skidded off the road and hit a tree. Evidence at trial showed that during three separate county resurfacing projects on that stretch of road going back to 1994, fifteen serious accidents had occurred.
The Tindall family sued Contra Costa County, arguing that the county had created a dangerous condition of public property and had actual notice of it. Luke Ellis and Kristin Lucey of Gillin, Jacobson, Ellis, Larsen and Lucey represented the plaintiffs through trial.
The jury agreed. On September 7, 2011, it returned a verdict of $11,700,796. The award included $1.5 million in economic damages and $10.2 million for the loss of love, care, and companionship suffered by Tindall's widow and daughter.
The verdict was reported as the largest wrongful death verdict ever returned in Contra Costa County and the largest verdict of any kind against the county at that time. The case also resulted in changes to the county's road resurfacing practices.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.