Bracket v. State of California

Larry Edward Spencer was injured in a collision with a truck driven by James Gardner (plaintiff) after George Bracket made an unsafe lane change and forced Gardner to swerve his truck across the center line of the highway and collide with Spencer’s oncoming car. Spencer sued Gardner and Bracket for his personal injuries, and Gardner settled with Spencer before suit for $350,000. A jury awarded Spencer $2.5 million. Bracket paid the remainder of the judgment by paying Spencer $2.1 million. Bracket then sued the State of California (state) (defendant) for comparative equitable indemnity, alleging that Spencer’s injuries were caused by the state’s failure to erect a median barrier separating the northbound and southbound traffic on the highway where the accident occurred. The jury found that the state’s failure was a cause of Spencer’s injuries and apportioned the comparative responsibility of the parties at 85 percent to the state, 10 percent to Bracket, and 5 percent to Gardner. Judgment for Bracket against the state was entered for $226,315.66, computed using a formula that took the total initial jury award to Spencer ($2.5 million) minus Gardner’s pre-suit settlement ($350,000) multiplied by 10/95. After subtracting Gardner’s contribution to the settlement, the court found that Bracket and the state should share in the judgment in proportion to their percentage of fault. The state appealed and argued that the trial court erred when it credited Bracket with Gardner’s pre-suit settlement before apportioning damages in accordance with the relative fault of each party. The state contended that Bracket’s indemnity claim should be limited to $25,000, which represented the contribution made by Bracket in excess of their proportionate share of the $2.5 million collected by Spencer.