Blue Bus Guilty, Jury Finds

By Lookout Staff

March 13 -- After one day of deliberations, a jury awarded $2.6 million to an elderly man who lost his arm after being allegedly run over by a Big Blue Bus.

In a unanimous decision, the Los Angeles Superior Court jury found the City of Santa Monica and Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus negligent when a 29,000 bus ran over Haroun Mehdipour's arm in West Los Angeles two years ago.

Attorneys for the 81-year-old Mehdipour -- who also suffered traumatic brain injury -- were seeking $12 million, as well as an unspecified amount for his wife. Of that, $2.615 million was to cover past and future medical costs.

"The jury found that Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus driver violated the very rules and regulations designed to protect the public's safety," said Browne Greene, the lead attorney for the plaintiff. "Had the driver obeyed them, Mr. Mehdipour would never have been harmed.

"Fortunately for the Mehdipours, the jury used its common sense and justice was served by holding Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus responsible for robbing Haroun Mehdipour of his well-earned golden years," said Greene, whose firm Greene Broillet & Wheeler won the highest product liability verdict in history in 1999.

The plaintiffs attorneys charged the City and its bus line with negligence, negligent hiring and negligent supervision, among other claims, arguing that the elderly man was walking alongside the bus toward the front door, "clearly in view of the driver's mirror," trying to get the driver's attention.

The City's attorneys argued that, instead of the driver, it was Mehdipour who was negligent for chasing the bus after it was moving. The jury found that the plaintiff was 25 percent at fault, reducing the amount he will receive by a quarter to $1.989 million.

Attorneys for the City said they were pleased the jury found Mehdipour partly at fault and did not grant the amount his attorneys were seeking.

"Although I'm personally disappointed with the jury finding for the prosecution, if they had to rule against us, I'm happy with this outcome," said Lance Gams, a deputy City Attorney. "It was a very tough case."