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A San Mateo County jury, after 10 hours of deliberation, voted 9-3 on Dec. 1 to reject a claim that Woodside resident Anthony Rose was at fault in a May 2007 accident on Sand Hill Road that resulted in the death of bicyclist Rodney Smith.
Mr. Smith was a resident of Portola Valley and the former chief executive of San Jose-based Altera Corp.
Superior Court Judge Carol Mittlesteadt presided over a 10-day wrongful-death trial of a lawsuit brought against Mr. Rose by Mary Smith, Mr. Smith’s widow. She sought $7 million to $8 million in damages, said Mr. Rose’s attorney Kevin Cholakian, a principal at Cholakian & Associates of South San Francisco.
Mr. Rose is a former principal of Portola Valley School. The California Highway Patrol did not charge him with wrongdoing in the incident.
Why do we always have to find someone to blame for the vagaries of life. That’s like trying to find someone to blame for cancer or a heart attack. Will 8 million dollars bring this man back? All it did was punish the other victim of the accident, the driver , and clutter the courts and cost the taxpayers money needed for other programs. What a waste. Looking for someone to blame? Look to lawyers.
John, you said it very well.
There was a time when society expected integrity and you could trust someone after a handshake. Now a different attitude pervades our culture. Few seem willing to take responsibility for their own actions and there are too many shysters willing to prove somebody else liable when something goes wrong.
It is sad that a person lost his life in an ACCIDENT, but that is what it was, the Highway Patrol didn’t charge him with the accident or a violation of any law. I agree, why do people always want to blame others and try and get money. Money doesn’t bring back the person or bring comfort for a loss.