Ponce v. AC Transit

$5M

On Feburary 10, 1994, Mr. Ponce was crossing the street in an unmarked cross-walk in the city of Richmond, CA when an AC Transit made a left turn and hit him.  As a result, Mr. Ponce suffered catastrophic head injuries.  He was in a coma for 30 days and hospitalized for 10 months. The defense contended Mr. Ponce was homeless and based their defense on a passenger who said it appeared that Mr. Ponce was staggering and walked into the bus.  There was even an argument that this might be suicide by accident.  In fact, Mr. Ponce had a congenital defect that made him walk with a limp and had zero alcohol or drugs in his system per the hospital records. 

This case settled for $5,000,000.00 in cash.