April 22, 2004	Contact: Reed Schifferman 206-448-1777
Appeals Court Sends Martini Case Back to Jury Appeals Court Decision Favors Man Severely Injured in Collision Truck’s Warning Lights, Juror Challenge at Issue   TACOMA – In a ruling last week, the Washington State Court of Appeals reinstated a claim by a driver who suffered debilitating injuries when his car slammed into a semi trailer traveling at 3 mph in a 70 mph zone at midnight. The appeals court decision makes way for a new trial in the case. Brandon Martini, now a 28-year-old Seattle resident, was left with severe brain damage, broken bones and other injuries in a collision with a semi trailer in a construction zone on Interstate 5 just south of Olympia one night in August 1997. The semi trailer was in front of Martini’s car and was going 3 mph in a 70 mph zone when the collision occurred about midnight. The truck driver did not turn on his low-speed warning flashers until after the collision. Martini sued the trucking company for the truck driver’s failure to turn on the low-speed warning flashers. Martini’s claim also names the State of Washington and the highway contractor it hired because the contractor failed to place temporary warning signs on Interstate 5 to alert drivers in the two-mile backup. Freeway traffic backups in this area often extended beyond the warning signs, so drivers had no knowledge of the construction zone. The April 14 appeals court decision directs the trial court to allow a jury to decide if a truck driver is negligent for failure to use low-speed flashing lights as recommended by industry guidelines. “ Truck drivers have a duty to use their flashers when they’re going slow in the darkness. It’s so simple yet it makes a big difference to the safety of drivers who are approaching from behind, especially in the far left lane of the freeway,” said Martini’s attorney Keith L. Kessler, from the Hoquiam office of Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey Coluccio.   In overturning the trial court, the appeals court also ruled that Martini was entitled to an impartial jury without employees of the defendant sitting as jurors. Therefore, no state employees can be jurors in a case where the State is a defendant. “It’s wrong for people being paid by the state to sit on a jury when the state is a defendant,” Kessler said. “The integrity of the jury box should not be corrupted by biased supporters for either party.”
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