Judge Overturns $40,000 Verdict Against Alta-Dena

A Pomona Superior Court judge Friday overturned a jury award of $40,000 to the family of an El Monte man whose death was linked to bacteria allegedly present in Alta-Dena Dairies’ raw certified milk.

Judge Theodore Piatt ruled in favor of the City of Industry-based firm’s motion to overturn last month’s award because of insufficient evidence. He also granted Alta-Dena a new trial.

The dairy’s attorney, Raymond A. Novell, said the company is “completely vindicated.”

The 2 1/2-week trial centered on the exact causes of Paul B. Telford’s death in 1982. At the time, Telford, 66, was undergoing radiation therapy for lung cancer and was restricted to a liquid diet, which included the dairy’s raw milk for several weeks.

Alta-Dena maintained that the man’s death was cancer related, but the family claimed that Telford died from an infection caused by Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella Dublin, which were found in his blood.

The case hinged on whether the pathogens were transmitted through the Alta-Dena product.

“There was absolutely no evidence to indicate that the raw certified milk was contaminated,” Novell said. “The judge said (Friday) that Mr. Telford’s death was not related to the consumption of raw certified milk and that the evidence presented during the . . . trial (showed) that raw certified milk was safe and wholesome.”

Telford’s son said his family was disappointed with the decision and that they will appeal the ruling. The son also criticized Judge Piatt for limiting the evidence that could be introduced during the trial.

“The judge had tremendous difficulty from the (trial’s) inception and wanted to compare a food product--milk--with a bumper from an ’85 Plymouth in terms of product liability,” Telford said. “He limited what could be heard by the jury.”

Nevertheless, Telford’s attorney, Robert Hodges of Hermosa Beach, said that there was, “evidence to show that Telford did die as a result of consuming raw certified milk.”

Early this year, Alta-Dena Dairies created a separate company, Stueve’s Natural Inc., to manufacture its raw milk product line.