Attorneys for a couple suing a pair of drivers who they maintain caused the death of their son and permanent injuries to one of the parents in a 2017 traffic collision in Torrance want a judge to exclude any evidence during the upcoming trial that their son may not have been wearing a seat belt.
The lawyers for Julie Esphorst and Jesse Esphorst Sr. filed court papers on Wednesday with Inglewood Superior Court Judge Ronald F. Frank stating that the evidence shows that 16-year-old Jesse Esphorst Jr. indeed had his seat belt on and that the drivers' attorneys have not offered any expert testimony to the contrary.
."More specifically, there was a red line across his chest and his sternum was broken, which would be consistent with seat belt use at impact," the plaintiffs' attorneys argue in their court papers, adding that the teen's parents have testified that he always wore his seat belt and that there has been no eyewitness testimony concerning the use or nonuse of the device.
The two other drivers are the remaining defendants in the lawsuit that stems from the collision on March 7, 2017. Tung Ming, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was driving north on Crenshaw Boulevard when Darryl Leander Hicks, of Los Angeles, made an illegal U-turn and struck Ming's vehicle. Hicks drove away and Ming began chasing him.
Ming called 911 to report the collision and the dispatcher allegedly told Ming to get the license plate number of the Hicks' car, which Ming believed as a directive that he drive faster.
Jesse Esphorst Jr. was a passenger in a van being driven by his father as they returned from a high school baseball game when their vehicle was struck by the Hicks and Ming cars as Jesse Esphorst Sr. turned on a green light at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Crest Road.
The Esphorts previously settled with several other defendants, including Los Angeles County. In April 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved a $6.5 million accord on the basis that the 911 operator was negligent.
In the consolidated lawsuit, Julie Esphorst and Jesse Esphorst Sr. both allege claims for wrongful death. Jesse Esphorst Sr. further alleges negligence due to his own injuries. Trial is scheduled Nov. 13.
Ming and Hicks were convicted of felony vehicular manslaughter and the plaintiffs' attorneys maintain that the conviction establishes the pair's liability in the civil case.
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