$190,000 PAYMENT IS URGED.Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County lawyers have recommended paying $190,000 to the son of a man who was killed in a car crash that CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan officials say was caused by one of the top officials in the District Attorney's Office. Wayne Doss, director of the Bureau of Family Support Operations, was driving his county car home June 27, 1996 when he hit a slow moving vehicle in front of him, according to documents filed with the County Claims Board. The driver of the other car, 69-year-old Gene Berry, was killed. The County Claims Board is slated to consider approving the settlement at a meeting today. Earlier this month, Doss pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter vehicular manslaughter n. the crime of causing the death of a human being due to illegal driving of an automobile, including gross negligence, drunk driving, reckless driving, or speeding. without gross negligence An indifference to, and a blatant violation of, a legal duty with respect to the rights of others. Gross negligence is a conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care, which is likely to cause foreseeable grave injury or harm to persons, property, or , said his lawyer Gerald Chaleff. Prosecutors with the state Attorney General's Office alleged Doss was following Berry's car too closely. ``There's a presumption in California that if you hit someone from behind that it's your fault. If you're in an accident and it's your fault and somebody dies, you're guilty of a misdemeanor,'' Chaleff said. Doss will be sentenced in March. Chaleff said the sentence will likely include a fine, probation and some community service, but no jail time. The California Highway Patrol investigated the collision and determined that unsafe speed and Doss' inattentiveness in·at·ten·tive adj. Exhibiting a lack of attention; not attentive. in  at·ten caused the crash. It was noted in the report that Doss was talking on his cellular phone when the crash occurred. Principal Deputy County Counsel Phillip S. Miller wrote that the county is liable for the crash because Doss was driving a county car. Miller noted that Doss' job requires him regularly to travel between the 10 offices of the Bureau of Family Support. According to the report, Doss was traveling in his county car on the transition road from the Long Beach Freeway to the San Bernardino Freeway The San Bernardino Freeway is the assigned name of an approximately 60-mile (95 km) long segment of Interstate 10 (I-10) between the cities of Los Angeles, California and San Bernardino, California. when he came upon a slow-moving car several car lengths in front of him. Doss braked but still hit Berry's car. David Berry, Gene Berry's son, sued the county in June 1997, alleging special damages Pecuniary compensation for injuries that follow the initial injury for which compensation is sought. The terminology and classification of types of damages is varied, at times contradictory, and often confusing. and loss of care, comfort and society. |
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