Appeals court upholds $82.6 million award to S.D. woman paralyzed in SUV rollover
 

Appeals court upholds $82.6 million award to S.D. woman paralyzed in SUV rollover

SAN DIEGO – An appeals court ruling upholding the $82.6 million in damages awarded to a San Diego woman paralyzed in a Ford Explorer rollover accident will be appealed to the California Supreme Court, an attorney said Tuesday.

“We plan to ask the California Supreme Court to review this case, and if need be, the U.S. Supreme Court,” Ford Motor Co. attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. said by telephone from Los Angeles.

The award, affirmed by the 4th District Court of Appeal in a 100-plus page decision, includes punitive damages of $55 million to Benetta Buell-Wilson, who lives in the San Diego neighborhood of Del Cerro. Her back was crushed in the accident on Interstate 8 near Alpine on June 19, 2002.

Dennis A. Schoville, Buell-Wilson's attorney, said Tuesday he was not surprised to hear of Ford's intention to appeal.

“That's been their intention all along, and they just don't get it,” said Schoville, of San Diego. “... I believe that the Fourth District Court of Appeal opinion is bulletproof, and for good reason.”

Ford has sought a new trial. The company does not believe punitive damages should be awarded, or at the very least, “they should be significantly reduced” in light of Supreme Court decisions limiting awards in state courts for punitive damages, Boutrous said Tuesday.

Buell-Wilson's suit alleged the Explorer's design was flawed because it had a high center of gravity and low wheelbase, making it prone to tip over, and a weak roof. It also alleged that Ford knew about the design flaws but did nothing to fix them.

A San Diego Superior Court jury in June 2004 awarded Buell-Wilson and her husband, Barry, $369 million, including $246 million in punitive damages.

It was the first verdict against Ford in an Explorer rollover case. The automaker had previously won at least a dozen similar cases.

Punitive damages are awarded to punish defendants and deter others from similar behavior.

“What Ford does not seem to want to admit is that there were direct findings of intention ... involving the conscious disregard for the safety of the public and victims like Mrs. Wilson, who are suffering by the thousands, and it's time for them to understand that they are being punished for intentional wrongful conduct,” Schoville said.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Kevin A. Enright in August 2004 reduced the jury's award to $150 million, $75 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages. Enright said evidence supported the jury's findings that the company knew of design defects, but did not correct them.

Ford appealed, and in July 2006, the 4th District Court of Appeal, while finding the automaker liable for Buell-Wilson's injuries, ruled the punitive damages were excessive and violated a state law's ban on awards that are the product of “passion or prejudice.” The award was then cut to $82.6 million.

In an unexpected move in May 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court told the appeals court to re-examine its ruling in light of a Supreme Court decision several months earlier involving punitive damages against tobacco company Philip Morris.

In that case, the Supreme Court overturned $79.5 million in punitive damages against the company awarded to a smoker in Oregon. The court ruled that jurors might have improperly calculated the award based on harm the company caused to other smokers, not just than the man whose widow brought the case.

Boutrous said Tuesday that the appeals court's Monday decision “strongly contradicts” the U.S. Supreme Court's mandate in the Philip Morris case, “and in many other decisions.”

He said the request for a new trial is based in part on Ford's contentions that the trial was unfair because the automaker was prohibited from presenting certain evidence of the truck's safety record, and that references to other Explorer rollover cases should not have been heard in the case.

Buell-Wilson was driving a 1997 Explorer westbound on Interstate 8 near Tavern Road about 5 p.m. when she swerved to avoid a metal object in the road.

The SUV went out of control when a passenger-side wheel lifted off the road. She fishtailed and rolled four and a half times. The SUV landed on its roof, crumpling the roof and crushing her back, paralyzing the then 49-year-old mother of two.

Schoville said Buell-Wilson uses a wheelchair and has had “a very difficult life” as a result of the accident.

“She is paralyzed at the mid-back level, and she lives daily with all of the pain above that level,” he said. “She has major health issues related to her bodily functions, and she continues to live every day with courage for her family. This ruling is extremely important to her because she the wants the (court) decision to help other victims like herself.”

Schoville said Buell-Wilson is cared for by her husband; a son who attends college but lives at home; and a daughter who is a college graduate who lives nearby.

“Mr. Wilson is an amazing husband,” Schoville said. “I've never seen anyone in my 35 years of practice who is more devoted than he is. He takes care of her morning, noon, and night, and works (outside the home) as well.”