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Lopez v. Tulloch

This personal injury case arose from an automobile versus bull accident that occurred on eastbound Interstate 8.  In a nutshell, plaintiff and his companion were traveling in their Dodge van late at night near Kitchen Creek Road when they struck a bull that had escaped from the Tulloch ranch.  Plaintiff suffered a major head injury and air lifted  to UCSD hospital where he remained for several weeks.  His total medical bills approached $100,000.00.  Upon release from the hospital, he obtained an excellent recovery. 

Plaintiff filed suit against the rancher for allowing his bull to escape.  More specifically, plaintiff alleged the barbed wire fencing surrounding the pasture (which held over one dozen bulls) was insufficient to contain the bulls.  This theory was supported by the fact that the bull had broken down the fence and wandered onto the freeway.  As part of the case, plaintiff hired a ranching expert to testify regarding the behavioral characteristics of bulls and how they should be managed, including what type of fencing should be used to contain them. 

Defendant argued that the fencing they used complied with the standard in the industry and that they were not negligent.  Defendant also argued that Plaintiff’s headlights were not on at the time of the accident; which prevented Plaintiff from seeing the bull on the roadway.  Finally, Defendant maintained that the bull was scared out of the pasture by illegal aliens trespassing in the pasture and that, in fact, Plaintiff was an illegal alien smuggler.  To counter these arguments, Plaintiff was forced to hire an expert to examine the filaments in the bulb of the headlights to determine if they were distorted in any way, which would mean the headlights were on at the time of the accident.  Plaintiff also had to hire an ex-border patrol agent to testify that Plaintiff did not fit the profile of an alien smuggler. 

Defendant was represented by Luther Horton.  The case ultimately settled for $425,000.00