On June 12, 2010, at 9:30 p.m., plaintiff Luis Sandoval, an unemployed 38 year old, and his cousin were riding their horses in or near the westbound lane of Clayton Road in San Jose when Sandoval’s white horse was struck from behind by a vehicle operated by Ajay Prakash Shingal. Sandoval was subsequently ejected from his horse, causing him to injure his face, head and both wrists when he struck the pavement. Sandoval sued Shingal, alleging the defendant was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. Sandoval contended that Shingal should have seen his white horse, and/or the horse next to him, and simply stopped or driven around the horses. Both the plaintiff’s and the defense’s accident reconstruction experts agreed that the two-lane residential street was over 60 feet wide, with the westbound lane being 32.5 feet wide. The plaintiff’s accident reconstruction expert opined that the point of impact was between 9 and 15 feet from the right hand curb, placing Sandoval between 17.5 to 23.5 feet from the centerline that divided the westbound and eastbound lanes. Although the defense expert disputed the location of the impact, all experts agreed that the point of impact was at least 11 feet from the centerline. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel argued that Shingal had ample room to drive around the horses and stay in the westbound lane. Shingal claimed that there were no streetlights operating near the point of impact and that he did not see either horse until he rear-ended Sandoval’s horse. However, he claimed he was not at fault because Sandoval’s horse darted out in front of his vehicle. He further claimed that Sandoval was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Defense counsel contended that Sandoval initially told police he was in the bike lane when the accident happened, but that evidence demonstrated that there were vehicles parked along the curb and a large truck or van parked near the area of impact. Thus, defense counsel disputed the claim that Sandoval and his cousin were riding their horses in the street and, instead, contended that both horses were on the sidewalk or the curb, with Sandoval’s horse darting out into the travel lane just prior to impact. In addition, the police and the defense’s accident reconstruction expert put the impact some 21 feet away from the driver’s right hand curb. Defense counsel further noted that Sandoval had a blood-alcohol level of .128 at the time of the accident, but noted that this result was unknown to police because they did not conduct an alcohol investigation despite the presence of a can of Bud Light in Sandoval’s saddlebags. The police indicated that at the time of their investigation, they were unsure if riding (a horse) while intoxicated was against the law and simply decided not to investigate Sandoval for his level of intoxication. However, the defense’s medical billing expert testified that she discovered Sandoval’s blood test, which was performed at the hospital, but that the records were confusing due to the initial trauma doctor indicating that Sandoval was not intoxicated yet ordering the blood test. The expert testified that the result of the test was not commented upon by any health care provider in the records and that there was confusing language in the hospital record written above the report of the blood-alcohol content concentration, in that the words “Alcohol/None Detected” appeared above the .11 blood-alcohol content level result. Nevertheless, the phlebotomist, the laboratory scientist and the head of the hospital laboratory all testified that Sandoval’s blood-alcohol level, when measured by the hospital, had a reading of 134 and that proper procedures were followed to insure the accuracy of the result. They further testified that as hospitals test blood serum, rather than whole blood, the hospital result was equal to .11 BAC. Thus, the defense’s pathology expert, who was head of the hospital laboratory, testified that he determined, by retrograde extrapolation, that Sandoval’s blood-alcohol, based upon his deposition testimony indicating that he had not eaten for several hours, was .128 at the time of the accident. The admissibility of the blood-alcohol evidence was ruled upon during a pre-trial, Evidence Code § 402 hearing. In a key ruling, the court determined that despite the language of California Vehicle Code § 21050, requiring riders on horseback to have all the same rights and responsibilities as drivers of vehicles outlined in Divisions 10 and 11 of the Vehicle Code (with Division 11 containing the rules of the road, including the prohibition against driving while intoxicated), it was not illegal to ride a horse while intoxicated in California. The court also rejected defense counsel’s requests to instruct the jury on CVC § 22400, Penal Code 597.1 and various San Jose Municipal Ordinances dealing with the care of animals. In response, Sandoval admitted to consuming approximately six beers during the day and evening before the accident. However, he argued that his consumption of alcohol was irrelevant because he was rear-ended., Sandoval suffered an open fracture of his left wrist; a fracture of his right wrist; a right, middle finger dislocation; a Grade II cerebral concussion; facial fractures; a front tooth fracture; and several lacerations, contusions and strains. He was subsequently taken to Regional Hospital of San Jose, where, on the night of the accident, he underwent a surgery to the left wrist with the use of an external fixator. A second surgery involving internal fixation was then performed a few weeks later. Sandoval claimed he developed severe arthritis in the left wrist and right middle finger, which was noted on X-rays less than two years after the accident. He also claimed continued pain and discomfort, with range-of-motion limitations of 50 percent in some planes of motion in the left wrist. Sandoval further claimed that he is in constant pain and will need both a wrist fusion and a distal interphalangeal fusion of the right middle finger. Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Sandoval $780,000, including $46,188.84 in past medical costs, $15,000 for his horse that was killed in the accident, and an unspecified amount for his pain and suffering. Sandoval presented no wage loss claim, and the jury heard he was uninsured. Defense counsel disputed both prognostications for the fusions, arguing that a wrist fusion was not needed and that there was no evidence of Sandoval’s finger being dislocated in the accident.