First Hotel-Room Trial Ends Smoothly

Meeting in a hotel room because of lack of space at the Santa Monica Courthouse, a Superior Court jury has decided that an unemployed Army veteran who was struck on the head by a street sign is entitled to damages of $150,000.

The city of Santa Monica was found to be partly at fault for the injuries, which were occurred in 1984 when a traffic sign and street sign toppled as they were moved to make way for street work.

But the city is not expected to have to pay any damages because the victim already has won $215,000 from other defendants--the manufacturer, installer and sales agent of the traffic signs--who settled out of court, said Norman N. Hirata, chief deputy in the city attorney’s civil litigation division.

Although Hirata had said previously that he had mixed feelings about trying the case at the Bay View Plaza Holiday Inn, Hirata said he was satisfied with the way the trial went. It was the first trial to be heard in a hotel room under a Los Angeles County program that began in January of last year.