Bean

I.

INTRODUCTION

Eric Lazear, an employee of appellant Pacific Coast Elevator Corporation (Pacific

Coast), ran his vehicle into appellant Daniel William Bean's truck while Bean was

stopped at a red light. Bean suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident and sued

Pacific Coast. A jury found Pacific Coast negligent and awarded Bean $1,271,594.74 in

damages, including $126,594.74 in economic damages, and $1,145,000 in noneconomic

damages. The trial court denied Pacific Coast's motion for new trial, granted Bean's

motion for prejudgment interest, and awarded Bean $34,830 in costs. The court entered

judgment in the amount of $1,306,424.74 in Bean's favor and ordered prejudgment

interest to be calculated on the entire judgment.

On appeal, Pacific Coast contends that the jury's noneconomic damage award is

excessive, that the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the basic speed law, and that

Bean's counsel committed misconduct during the trial. Pacific Coast further contends

that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that Bean's Code of Civil Procedure

section 9981 pretrial offer to settle was reasonable and…