According to the Contra Costa Times, Kyle Katheryn Byrnes (aka Kyle Katherine Brown), 62, has been charged with DUI and failing to provide evidence of insurance on request following a Shoreline Highway collision that fractured 26 year old Claire Diepenbrock’s skull.  Diepenbrock was riding her bike north toward Mount Tamalpais in the Tamalpais Valley area.  The collision occurred at 5 p.m. on May 26.  Diepenbrock, an avid cyclist suffered a fractured skull, a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver and other major injuries. She is still undergoing physical therapy for lingering injuries, including partial facial paralysis, said her father, Tony Diepenbrock.

Diepenbrock was sideswiped and knocked down by a northbound Saturn, the CHP said.  A second vehicle swerved and avoided Diepenbrock but she was stuck by a Honda CR-V.  Brown was identified as the driver of the Saturn and she was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a drug, possibly a painkiller.  Deputy District Attorney Kevin O’Hara confirmed that a drug was the intoxicant but declined to elaborate on the type of the drug or the amount in Brown’s system.

If convicted, Brown could face up to eight years in state prison.  The criminal complaint also alleges that she made an unsafe passing move to the left when she struck Diepenbrock.  Brown is scheduled to appear for arraignment on September 21 in Marin Superior Court.

The driver of the Honda CR-V, a Mill Valley resident, was not arrested.

According to the Kern Valley Sun, Jim and Debbie Harmon, of Bakersfield, were killed Saturday, September 19, in a violent head-on collision on Sierra Way just south of Limestone Drive in Kernville.

Harmon, 58, and his wife, 57, were riding their 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle at about 9:45 a.m., when Hazel Halloran, 74, was headed north on Sierra Way at approximately 45-50 mph.  According to the CHP report, Halloran’s 2003 Buick drifted off the right edge of the roadway.  While trying to reposition the car she overcorrected, lost control and hit the Harmon’s head-on.  They were thrown from the motorcycle and each sustained major injuries.  It was said that the Harmon’s were on their way to a weekend conference to promote motorcycle safety.

Paramedics and firefighters worked to tend to the Harmon’s injuries and tried to get them to awaiting hospitals.  Jim Harmon went into cardiac arrest on the way to a landing zone where a medevac helicopter was waiting.  The ambulance was diverted to Kern Valley Hospital where efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and the Coroner reported that he died at 11:38 a.m.  Debbie Harmon also died at 11:30 a.m. after being airlifted to Kern Medical Center.  Halloran sustained minor injuries.

According to the Associated Press, on September 15, 2009 Toyota said it will order all dealers to inspect their cars for mismatched floor mats after a mat was suspected of snagging a gas pedal on a runaway Lexus, ending with a fiery crash in Santee, San Diego County that killed CHP Officer Mark Saylor, 45, his wife Cleofe, 45, their daughter Mahala, 13, and Saylor’s brother-in-law, Chris Lastrella, 38.  The accident occurred on August 28 on State Route 125.  The vehicle was doing more than 120 mph when it hit a SUV, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.  The SUV driver sustained moderate injuries.

1,400 Toyota and Lexus dealers nationwide are to be issued an order to make sure each of their vehicles (new, used and loaner) had the proper floor mats that the mats were properly secured.  The vehicle being driven by the family was a 2009 Lexus ES 350 that was loaned by a dealer, Bob Baker Lexus El Cajon, while their own vehicle was being serviced.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage was a couple of inches longer than the mat that belonged in the vehicle and could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal.  The floor mat was from a different Lexus

A 911 call was made by Chris Lastrella approximately a minute before the crash to say that the accelerator was stuck and the vehicle had no brakes.  The call ends with someone telling people in the car to hold on and pray, followed by a woman’s scream.

According to the Kern Valley Sun, on September 8, 2009 Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that Pamela Ott, the former Kern Valley Hospital administrator, was being charged with eight felony counts of elder abuse.  She is being charged with allowing staff to forcibly administer psychotropic medications to patients for their own convenience, rather than for their patients’ therapeutic interests.  Three nursing home residents allegedly died as a result of these actions. 

Ott pled not guilty to the charges in court on September 8, 2009 and was released on her recognizance on the condition that she not run a skilled nursing facility.

These charges were filed along with charges against three others in February 2009:

• Gwen Hughes, the former Director of Nursing at the skilled nursing facility of the Kern Valley Healthcare District in Lake Isabella, Kern County was charged with elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.  Upon taking over in September 2006, Ott hired and supervised Director of Nursing Gwen Hughes.  Hughes ordered that patients, who suffered from Alzheimer’s and dementia, be given high doses of psychotropic medications to make them more tranquil and easy to control.  She ordered the administration of these medications to patients who argued with her, were noisy, or who were otherwise disruptive.  Two patients who resisted were held down and forcibly given injections.  After being informed of these actions, Ms. Ott allowed them to continue.
• Debbi Hayes, the former pharmacist at the Valley Healthcare District, was charged with elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.  On August 14, Hayes pled no contest to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit an act injurious to public health. She is a cooperating witness for the people.  Hayes allegedly filled prescriptions for psychotropic medications, without first obtaining a doctor’s approval.
• Dr. Hoshang Pormir, a staff physician at Kern Valley Healthcare District, who was serving as the medical director of the skilled nursing facility, was charged with elder abuse.  Dr. Pormir approved the psychotropic medications only after they had been administered and without examination of the patients to determine whether these psychotropic medications were medically necessary.

 Several of the patients allegedly suffered complications as a result of being given the psychotropic medications, including lethargy and the inability to eat or drink properly. Three patients are believed to have died and one patient suffered great bodily injury as a result of the medications.

Claudia Cabrera, 30, and Josue Luna, 33, were ordered to face charges including hit-and-run causing great bodily harm and vehicular manslaughter after the accident that left one USC student dead and another severely injured. This was at the conclusion of a two-day preliminary hearing. An earlier attempt at a plea deal fell through in August.

Cabrera is accused of driving the 2000 Infinity that allegedly ran over Adrianna Bachan, 18, and Marcus Garfinkle, 19. The incident occurred on March 29 and witnesses say that Luna pulled Garfinkle’s body off the windshield of the car before they sped away. Cabrera and Luna were arrested in April after a massive police search and a $235,000 reward offer.

Judge Mary Lou Villar said there was clear evidence the defendants were involved in the accident, that they did not stop to render assistance or call for help for the victims, and that they left the scene. She also said that they caused great bodily harm after hearing testimony from a witness that the pair pushed and pulled to remove the surviving victim from the shattered windshield. The survivor testified that he still finds shards of glass in his flesh.

As reported by the Costa Contra Times, in Hercules, California, two recent pit bull attacks are prompting for better compliance with dog-restraint rules, greater public vigilance of loose dogs, and possible new city laws that would govern pit bulls and other breeds perceived to be aggressive.

On August 20, a woman was attacked by two loose pit bulls. Her Yorkshire terrier was killed. The woman suffered moderate bites and scratches to her arms according to Hercules police Chief Fred Deltorchio. According to Hercules spokeswoman, Michelle Harrington, the Contra Costa County Department of Animal Services euthanized the two pit bulls after they were deemed dangerous.

On September 6, a dog was injured by three loose pit bulls. According to Hercules police Chief Fred Deltorchio, the three pit bulls were also deemed not suitable for adoption or return to the community and euthanized on September 11.

The Hercules City Council’s Public Safety Subcommitee will meet on September 23 to discuss the attacks and how to prevent similar attacks in the future. The Hercules Municipal Code incorporates the county’s animal ordinance which holds that a dog should be properly restrained at all times. Practically, that means that its owner is in violation of the county ordinance if their dog is in a position to harm a person or another animal.

According to the Los Angeles Times, USC cornerback Brian Baucham suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident on September 17, 2009.  He did not practice and will miss Saturday’s Pacific 10 Conference opener at Washington, the school announced.

Baucham, a redshirt freshman from Torrance, was traveling north on the Harbor Freeway when the accident occurred.  He was taken to the hospital and treated for abrasions and is recovering at home.

Welcome to the new blog of personal injury lawyer Brian Brandt. Here youwill find information on our law firm as well as information on personal injury law and accidents and injuries around California. 

 
We are a family oriented firm where we treat all our clients the same way we would like to be treated. With over 20 years experience representing people wronged by the negligent or reckless behavior of others, we have extensive experience in the areas of truck and commercial vehicle litigation, wrongful death and serious auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, product liability, brain/head injuries, spinal cord injuries, premises liability and many other types of personal injury cases including medical malpractice and nursing home neglect.

Our office serves all of Southern California, including San Bernardino, Riverside, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Pomona, San Diego County, Ventura County and Los Angeles. Feel free to contact us at anytime.