Government to pay $55M lawsuit

Nine-year-old Leilani Gutierrez dreams of studying unicorns and dragons when she grows up. Or maybe she’ll be a wildlife biologist or a chef.

“I love math; it’s my favorite subject,” she said. “I want to go to college and have five different jobs when I grow up.”

The dreams of Leilani, a quadriplegic, will be easier to realize now that her family has won a $55-million judgment in a lawsuit against the federal government.

A studious girl, Leilani said she loves to read and spends her evenings doing homework.

“That’s just her personality and outlook on life,” said Leilani’s mother, June Gutierrez. “She says I’m going to be a chef, but you’ve got to have arms to do that, ‘You wheel right along, Leilani,’ we tell her.”

The Newport Heights Elementary School fourth-grader has been paralyzed from the chin down since a federal employee on a business trip ran a red light and broadsided the car she and her mother were traveling in near her home in Costa Mesa on Mother’s Day 2002.

Leilani requires 24-hour nursing care and breathes with the help of a respirator.

A $54 million judgment in Leilani’s favor to cover her medical expenses and other costs handed down by a federal judge Friday may ensure she will go to college one day and have her own career.

The judgment also included a more than $1 million award for Leilani’s mother for physical and emotional injuries suffered in the collision.

The $55-million ruling against the federal government is believed to be the largest personal injury judgment ever received in Orange County and the most compensatory damages awarded within the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, according to research by Leilani’s legal team, headed by the Santa Ana law firm Aitken, Aitken & Cohn.

“What this does is give me the peace of mind that she will be taken care of if something were to happen to me,” Gutierrez said. “I’m hopeful, but also anxious for the future.”

Leilani’s mother hadn’t told the 9-year-old how much money she has been awarded Wednesday evening.

“I don’t think she would understand how much money it is. I’ve just tried to explain everything about the lawsuit in kid terms as we go along,” Gutierrez said.

Leilani’s lawyers say the grade-schooler is pleased with the outcome of the lawsuit.

“For her, it means she and her mother can move to a bigger house with more room, but I don’t think she has a concept of the money,” attorney Darren Aitken said.

The federal government has 60 days to appeal the judgment. A decision to appeal would have to come from the Office of the Solicitor General in Washington.

“The federal government never contested liability in this case,” said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. “Only the amount of damages were at issue.”

Mrozek said no plans had been announced Wednesday to appeal the multimillion-dollar judgment, but “the decision to appeal had not yet been determined.”

Gutierrez said she will continue to stay at home to care for her daughter. She and Leilani have been dependent on charitable donations for the past five years.

“Life goes on,” she said. “I have to start dinner soon and Leilani has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow; nothing has really changed.”

Gutierrez has not received any sort of compensation for Leilani’s injuries in the past five years.

Leilani’s medical expenses have cost about $4 million since the accident.

“The family has struggled for the past five years, the U.S. Government has not paid them anything up to this point.” Aitken said.

Leilani spent 250 days in the hospital after the car wreck.

The impact of the accident was so severe, the family car struck a utility pole.

She now cares for her daughter full time and has worked to get Leilani into the classroom with other children her age in public schools.

“It was real touch-and-go at first after the accident, [Gutierrez] had to move into the hospital,” said Steven Lansford, the first attorney retained by the Gutierrez family after the car accident. “June and Leilani are my heroes. The definition of a hero is someone who shows bravery in the face of obstacles, and I think they fit that description.”

Gutierrez said she hopes she and Leilani can change people’s perception of disabilities.

“I think the next thing for us (after the lawsuit) will be to educate people and let them know that people with disabilities can do the same things everyone else does,” Gutierrez said.