Inzunza v. Naranjo
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Plaintiff died after his pick-up truck collided with a tractor-trailer driven by Jose R. Inzunza (Inzunza) for CR GTS, Inc. (CRGTS), an interstate motor carrier. Plaintiff’s surviving spouse and their four adult children and two adult stepchildren (collectively, Plaintiffs) brought this wrongful death action against Defendants Inzunza and CRGTS (collectively, Defendants). The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Plaintiffs. CRGTS appealed the judgment.
The Second Appellate District agreed with CRGTS’s first contention and conclude the trial court prejudicially erred by precluding CRGTS from presenting evidence contesting liability and of comparative fault. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment against CRGTS and remanded the action for a new trial against CRGTS. The court set aside the judgment against Inzunza pending the outcome of the new trial. The court concluded that an agent’s deemed admissions do not bind the principal codefendant, even when the basis for the action against the principal codefendant is vicarious liability arising from the acts of the agent. The court wrote that to hold otherwise would directly contradict the plain language of section 2033.410. The trial court, therefore, erred by precluding CRGTS from introducing evidence of non-liability and comparative fault. The court found that this error clearly was prejudicial.
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