A judge is being asked to decide whether a proposed memorial sign paying tribute to a 68-year-old psychologist killed by an allegedly speeding motorist in the Arts District in 2020 can be part of the evidence that relatives of the decedent can present to a jury during the upcoming trial of their lawsuit against the city and the driver.
Larry David Brooks was killed on May 4, 2020, after being struck by a car allegedly driven on Santa Fe Avenue by Ka-Leung Chan. Attorneys for Brooks’ widow, Anna Marie Piersimoni, and her two children maintain in their Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that the street design plan had become hazardous due to a change in physical conditions, that the city knew about the dangers and that it had enough time to fix the problems, but failed to do so.
According to court papers filed by the City Attorney’s Office, the city’s Department of Transportation operates a Roadside Memorial Sign Program allowing those who have lost loved ones to traffic-related accidents to ask that memorial signs be placed at accident sites with the name of the individual who died, along with a message of caution to drivers.
The plaintiffs have contacted the city about installing a memorial sign at or near the site of Brooks’ accident, according to the City Attorneys’ Office’s court papers.
“Such evidence would … refer to acts that occurred subsequent to the incident, is designed to elicit sympathy or be distorted as some sort of admission of culpability by the city and would unduly prejudice the city,” according to the court papers of the City Attorney’s Office, which is asking that such evidence be excluded.
But in their court papers, the plaintiffs’ attorneys maintain that evidence of the proposed sign is relevant to the case.
“The presence of a memorial sign can be indicative of the psychological distress experienced by the plaintiffs,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys argue in their court papers. “It demonstrates the need to memorialize the decedent, acknowledge their loss publicly and cope with the emotional aftermath of the accident.”
The evidence will also assist the jury in visualizing the accident location and the plaintiffs’ response to the tragedy, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ court papers.
Judge Michael L. Stern will have the final say on the proposed memorial sign issue. A final status conference is scheduled Thursday and trial for Monday. The lawsuit was filed in May 2020.
The other part of the lawsuit alleges Chan was negligently speeding when his 2018 McLaren 720s struck and killed Brooks while he was walking in the parking lane of Santa Fe Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. Chan was later charged with reckless driving and felony vehicular manslaughter.
In their court papers, Chan’s attorneys argued their client was not the sole cause of the accident.