Barkus

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

At around 1:00 a.m., on August 22, 2008, Logan Barkus, 17, was struck and killed in Lancaster by a car driven by 18-year-old Jennifer White. Barkus’s mother, Dina Barkus, sued White for wrongful death.1 White contended that Barkus was at fault because he stepped off of a median strip and directly into the roadway. Appellant contended that White was at fault because she admittedly glanced down at the radio right before striking Barkus, she should have been using her high beam headlights at the time, and she failed to render assistance, as required by the Vehicle Code. After hearing from the sheriff’s deputy who investigated the accident and White’s accident reconstruction and human factors expert witnesses, the jury found that White had not been negligent and that Barkus’s death was caused by his own negligence. The trial court, commenting on how “conservative” people were in Lancaster, granted appellant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), finding that the verdict was the product of socioeconomic bias. It also granted appellant’s new trial motion, but as to damages only. White filed a mandate petition with this court, asking us to…