Teacher Awarded $195,000 in Accidental Shooting : Court: Jury decides two hunters were negligent when bullet fired during target practice struck woman who was in a classroom 1.7 miles away.

A junior high school teacher who was lecturing a class full of students when she was hit by a bullet fired from a high-powered rifle 1.7 miles away has been awarded $195,000 by a Vista Superior Court jury.

Patricia Holland-Suppa, 29, of Lee Vining, Calif., was awarded the $195,000 late Friday after a jury found that two hunters, who were target-shooting at rocks, fired the rifle negligently. Her husband, Joseph Suppa, 35, was awarded $10,000 for loss of marital companionship the jury found he had suffered because of the shooting.

The bizarre shooting broke Holland-Suppa’s elbow and left her with a case of post-traumatic stress disorder, the condition usually associated with combat, said her San Diego attorney, Robert F. Vaage. Since the two hunters handling the gun were a former Marine Corps captain and an off-duty El Segundo police officer, Vaage said he hoped the verdict would serve as a lesson in firearm safety.

“As I said to the jury, I have no objection to private citizens owning firearms,” Vaage said Monday. “I think most people who own weapons are responsible in their use. But people who are responsible in the use of their weapons would find this sort of behavior absolutely atrocious.”

Vaage also said he believed the case marked the first time in the nation that a civil suit stemming from an accidental shooting by hunters had resulted in an award of damages. There had been criminal prosecutions but no civil judgment, Vaage said.

“You’re talking about guys who should have known better, rather than just a couple of weekend warriors,” Vaage said.

The shooting occurred Oct. 4, 1985. Holland-Suppa was teaching English shortly after 10 a.m. to a class of seventh- and eight-graders in a temporary classroom--a mobile home--in the parking lot at Mammoth High School in Mammoth Lakes.

Exactly 1.7 miles away, Jose L. Portillo and Rudy Kerkhof, who were on deer hunting trips to the Sierra and had met the night before, were target shooting at two boulders on top of a ridge, firing Portillo’s Russian-made 7.62-millimeter rifle, a high-powered weapon.

Portillo, now 45, a former Marine Corps captain, works as a federal probation officer in San Diego. Kerkhof, 29, of Norwalk is an El Segundo police detective.

Without going to the top of the ridge to see what was on the other side, the two men fired three shots at the boulders, court documents said. Kerkhof said he took one shot and Portillo took two.

No one knows where two of the rounds went, Vaage said. The third ripped through the wall of the classroom and tore through the back of a student’s chair before smashing into Holland-Suppa’s right elbow, knocking her to the ground, court documents said.

Even after surgery and months of therapy, Holland-Suppa--who is right-handed--still does not have full use of her right arm, according to court documents. Carrying anything that weighs more than 15 pounds is still painful, the documents said.

Meanwhile, two psychiatrists and two psychologists, all retained by the Mammoth Unified High School District, diagnosed Holland-Suppa as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the court papers said. Symptoms have included nightmares, depression and a fear of returning to teaching, the documents said.

Her marriage suffered, too, the court papers said. Holland-Suppa separated from her husband “for extended periods of time” so that she could be close to her psychologist, the papers said.

On disability leave after the shooting, Holland-Suppa made three or four unsuccessful attempts at returning to the classroom, Vaage said. In January, she agreed to try again and currently teaches groups of three or four children, in a program due to run through June, he said.

In September, 1986, seeking damages for medical costs, emotional damages and lost wages, Holland-Suppa filed suit against Portillo and Kerkhof. Her husband’s claim for loss of affection was also included.

The suit was filed in Vista because Portillo lives there, Vaage said.

Holland-Suppa’s original attorney was Daniel T. Broderick III, the San Diego lawyer and former president of the county bar who was killed last November. After Broderick was killed, Vaage, who had been his associate, took over Holland-Suppa’s case.

The trial in the case began Feb. 13. Kerkhof said Monday he was glad he finally was able to tell Holland-Suppa, from the witness stand at the trial, that he was sorry.

“I tried to call her up the week after and relay my sorrow about what had happened,” but couldn’t reach her, he said.

The one shot he fired from the rifle, Kerkhof said, was the “first and only round I ever fired with it. This is the only time I’ll ever fire a gun without knowing everything about it.”

The jury got the case Thursday and returned its verdict about 4 p.m. the next day, Vaage said.

Defense attorney John R. Wingert, a San Diego lawyer, said the jury apparently had little trouble deciding that the two men were liable. It is unlikely the verdict will be appealed, he said. The $205,000 is likely to be covered by homeowners’ insurance that both men carried, Wingert said.

Portillo referred a phone call Monday to Wingert.

Phone calls Monday to Holland-Suppa’s home went unanswered.