Lawyers say the largest private settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit in San Benito County history was obtained by the family of the late German Rodriguez on Monday when Santa Cruz-based Ledyard Co. agreed to pay $2 million in a case involving the man's decapitation death in a 2005 auto accident.
"We miss our father everyday - he was our role model and our guiding light," said Rodriguez's eldest son, Joel Rodriguez, in a press release. "We are satisfied that our attorneys have settled this case against the person who caused this accident. We can finally put this behind us."
The 84-year-old local man, who spent most of his time preaching in the Apostolic Church, according to his family, was survived by his eight children and 13 grandchildren. The accident also involved his daughter Ada Rodriguez, who was in the car and witnessed her father's death.
The crash occurred on April 25, 2005, when Jeffrey Huff of Watsonville cut into Rodriguez's lane on San Felipe Road, according to the Dunnion Law Firm of Monterey, which represented the family. Huff was driving for Ledyard Co. at the time of the crash. Rodriguez's car was forced into the path of an oncoming big rig, with the impact decapitating him.
"The photos of the crash were so awful," said attorney Thomas Dunnion. "I can't imagine what the daughter went through during the time she was caught in the vehicle."
The Hollister Police Department investigated the accident and indicated in its reports that Rodriguez was not at fault. Huff, however, placed the blame during the trial on Rodriguez in his defense against the lawsuit.
"The defense's position was that Rodriguez was too old to be driving and simply lost control of his car and drove into the big rig that took off his head, and that Huff never saw the other vehicle at all," summed up Dunnion.
The attorneys from both sides met with judges twice without reaching settlements. The Dunnion Law Firm previously had rejected an offer of $500,000, and professional mediators out of San Francisco were brought in to intervene.
"We settled on the courtroom steps on the eve of the trial," said Glenda de Guzman of the Dunnion firm, who noted that Judge Harry Tobias was to oversee the proceedings.
She attributed the relatively high dollar amount to Rodriguez's large family, their close bond and their resulting suffering - de Guzman also pointed out that figures involved in wrongful death lawsuits generally decrease as ages of decedents increase, and how this one bucked that trend.
"This was a leader of the community," said de Guzman, "a minister with close ties to each of his eight children."
Dunnion commented that he was pleased with the settlement, saying: "We are proud on behalf of all our attorney's who worked diligently and intelligently over a long period of time to maximize benefit to this well deserving family."
Jeff Gatlin Jeff Gatlin is a staff writer at The Hollister Free Lance. You can call him at (831) 637-5566 or send him an email.
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