Diaz v. Southern California Edison Co. CA4/1
Decedent was electrocuted and died in July 2010 after a metal ladder he was using to harvest grapefruit contacted a 12,000-volt electrical wire owned by Southern California Edison Company (SCE) above a grove at Circle K-5 Citrus Ranch (Circle K-5) in Hemet, California. A jury attributed 80 percent fault for decedent's death to SCE. The court entered judgment against SCE in favor of decedent's wife and minor children for more than $3.5 million and in favor of decedent's brother, who witnessed the injury, for $200,000. We conclude the court properly instructed the jury regarding negligence per se and had jurisdiction to consider the general negligence claim. We also conclude there was substantial evidence to support the jury's allocation of fault. We, therefore, affirm the judgment.
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