Abdulkadhim v. Wu

Filed 7/23/20; Certified for publication 8/11/20 (order attached)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

HALAH JAWAD B298091 ABDULKADHIM, Individually and as Personal (Los Angeles County Representative, etc., Super. Ct. No. BC585481)

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.

TOMMY WU,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Stephen I. Goorvitch, Judge. Affirmed. First Law Group and Eric A. Forstrom for Plaintiff and Appellant. Law Offices of Cleidin Z. Atanous and Cleidin Z. Atanous for Defendant and Respondent. ____________________________

Jasim Al-Kuraishi was killed in a car accident in the early morning hours of October 11, 2014. His wife, Halah Jawad Abdulkadhim, sued Tommy Wu and several other defendants individually and as the personal representative of Al-Kuraishi’s estate for wrongful death. Wu moved for summary judgment and the trial court granted his motion. Abdulkadhim appeals from the resulting judgment. We agree with the trial court’s conclusion that the sudden emergency doctrine provides Wu a complete defense and affirm. BACKGROUND At about 1:00 a.m. on the morning of October 11, 2014, Al- Kuraishi was driving 70 miles per hour westbound on Interstate 10 near Rosemead. Ahead of Al-Kuraishi in the same lane, Wu was driving an SUV between 60 and 70 miles per hour. Wu saw a car stopped in the lane about 20 to 30 car lengths ahead of him, changed lanes (to the left, into one of two High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes), and passed the stopped vehicle driving between 40 and 50 miles per hour. He was 300 to 400 feet past the stopped car when he saw Al-Kuraishi’s vehicle crash into the stopped car. The impact caused Al-Kuraishi’s vehicle to leave the lane it was in, and it was hit by another car that had also been traveling about 70 miles per hour in an adjacent lane. After seeing the accident in his rear-view mirror, Wu stopped and called 911. A paramedic pronounced Al-Kuraishi dead at the scene of the accident. On June 17, 2015, Abdulkadhim filed a complaint alleging a single cause of action against Manuel Mendez, Jr. (the driver of the stopped vehicle), Lesley Chavarria (the driver of the vehicle that hit Al-Kuraishi after he hit Mendez’s car), David Mendez (the owner of the stopped vehicle), and Janice Rice (the owner of