Car Crash Victim Gets $20-Million Settlement

An Imperial County woman who was a flight instructor and airplane pilot before a car crash that burned her so badly she lost an ear and parts of all four limbs has won a court settlement worth more than $20 million, lawyers involved in the case said Friday.

Charlotte E. Hammond, 27, of Holtville, will receive more than $5.5 million now as well as an annuity that is scheduled to pay her $14.6 million, said one of her La Jolla attorneys, Speedy Rice.

The arrangement, approved last week by San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey T. Miller, is believed to be one of the largest pretrial settlements in the history of the San Diego courts, Robinson said.

It also is one of the largest pretrial settlements known to any of the attorneys in the case, all experienced lawyers, in a lawsuit that essentially involved a basic negligence claim.

“You hear of big money in terms of products liability cases,” said Raoul Kennedy, an Oakland attorney who represented the owner of the agricultural truck that ran into Hammond’s car. “You hear of big money in cases involving bad faith.

“But in terms of a plain old intersection accident, which is what this was, I can’t think of any bigger, offhand.”

Hammond, who has been living with her parents in Holtville--18 miles east of El Centro--since the accident, said Friday that she is grateful for the money. It will pay her medical bills, including the plastic surgery she still needs, and enable her to afford her own apartment, she said.

“But I would give that money all up in a second if I could be physically what I was before I got hurt,” Hammond said.

“I just hope that, when people read this story, they don’t feel about the money like, Wow! I hope it’s not jealousy. Because I’d be so thrilled to be the person I was before I got hurt.”

The crash took place Jan. 30, 1988, between El Centro and Holtville.

Hammond was driving west about 7:45 a.m. on Evan Hewes Road (old California 80), when Fernando R. Niebla, driving north on Barbara Worth Road, began slowing for the stop sign at the crossing, according to another of Hammond’s lawyers, Mark P. Robinson Jr.

Hammond did not have a stop sign and was traveling about 55 m.p.h., the posted speed limit, Robinson said. Court records indicate that an expert consultant estimated, however, that she might have been going some 20 m.p.h. faster.

Niebla, a Mexican laborer, was driving the truck for Lemac, a San Diego partnership. The truck, a mid-1960s Chevrolet pickup, belonged to Magco Inc., a Holtville company. Lemac and Magco are in the business of growing and packing asparagus and other crops, Kennedy said.

When Niebla tried to stop, his brakes failed, Robinson said. Niebla tried to beat Hammond’s car, a 1985 Nissan, across the intersection, and she may have changed lanes to try to avoid a crash, but her car slid under the right-front side of the truck, Robinson said.

The truck rolled over, he said. One of its gas caps was missing and fuel spilled out under Hammond’s car, igniting it. Hammond had been knocked unconscious and, since her car had been badly crushed on impact, she was trapped.

Rescuers were able to remove Hammond from the car only after her seat belt, which she was wearing, had burned off, Robinson said. By then, Hammond had been burned over nearly 70% of her body.

She was taken by helicopter to UC San Diego Medical Center, where, because of the burns, doctors had to amputate both legs above the knees.

On Feb. 8, again because of burns, both of her hands were amputated. That week, her right ear, which was badly charred, began to fall off.

Hammond’s face also was badly burned. She lost about 60% of her hearing and suffered lung damage.

In all, Hammond went through nine operations before she was transferred in June, 1988, to another hospital. She finally left the hospital in August, 1988, though there have been other operations since and more remain to come, the attorneys said.

Shortly after the crash, Hammond filed suit against Magco, Lemac and others, alleging negligence. The brakes shouldn’t have failed and the gas cap should have been on, she said in her legal papers.

Although the accident happened in Imperial County, the San Diego lawyers originally handling Hammond’s case--Gerald Davee and Donald Salem--were allowed under court rules to file the case in San Diego County, which they did. Primarily, that’s because San Diego courts by then had in place the “fast track” program, which pushes civil suits speedily toward resolution, while courts in smaller counties, such as Imperial, did not, said Robinson, who with Rice took the case over some months later.

In September, Robinson and Rice served a formal settlement notice on the defendants. Although the case wasn’t set for trial until next March, the lawyers worked out the deal over the next couple of months, and Miller approved it Dec. 4.

Hammond already had been advanced $200,000, according to court documents. The defendants agreed to pitch in more than $5.3 million now, though the lawyers agreed that the exact amount would remain secret, Robinson said.

The agricultural firms also agreed to buy Hammond an annuity that pays her $23,717 monthly, according to court records. The annuity cost $3,496,867, the records indicate.

That annuity is guaranteed for at least 30 years to Hammond--or, if she dies, to her estate--for a total of $8.53 million, the records show.

Hammond’s life expectancy, however, is another 51 years, and, if she lives that long, the annuity will pay out $14.6 million, the records indicate. If she lives longer than that, the annuity will keep paying $23,717 a month until she dies, Robinson said.

Although the settlement is large, Hammond’s injuries were catastrophic, and that prodded deal-making, Kennedy said.

“I’ve spent 22 years defending some pretty horrible cases,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything even on the graph with this.”

Hammond, meanwhile, has been fitted with prostheses and gets around in a wheelchair, although she said she is learning to walk again and even to drive again--she has a learner’s permit and a specially adapted pickup truck.

She also said she is taking a painting class at a local junior college and an English literature class through college extension. And she’s hoping, as a “long-term goal,” to go back to work, teaching ground classes to potential pilots.

Although she had been engaged before the accident, her fiance has left her, and that has been difficult, she said. And she dreads the upcoming plastic surgery.

“It’s hard for me,” she said. “I have to adjust. But I think the worst is over. I can do better, and do more. I’d like to get back to a somewhat normal, active life if I can. This will help.”