Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002 | 9:53 a.m.
Clark County jurors are being asked to decide who should be held civilly responsible for the deaths of a California man and his children who were crushed by 23 tons of concrete pipes that fell off a flatbed tractor-trailer three years ago.
Randy Ledford, 32, Melissa Ledford, 28, and their two children, Lonnie, 9, and Skylar, 6, were traveling along California State Route 58 near Barstow on Aug. 2, 1999, when the truck, driving in the opposite direction, lost its load of three 30-foot long cement pipes on a sweeping right-hand curve.
The Ledfords, of Redlands, Calif., were killed instantly, as were Manny Vigil, 38, and his wife, Sandy Lee, 51, a Henderson couple traveling in a another vehicle.
The pipes were water transfer pipes on their way to Nevada for a Las Vegas Valley Water District expansion.
During opening arguments Wednesday, attorneys for Randy Ledford's parents told jurors that a 7-foot long piece of Douglas fir caused the accident.
Randall Jones said the pipes should have been placed on top of pieces of lumber that reached across all eight feet of the tractor-trailer bed. In addition, the pieces of lumber should have been placed on top of two steel cross beams that are part of the trailer so that the pipes would be adequately supported.
Jones alleged, however, that Northwest Pipe was out of pre-cut lumber and employee Jose Serrano not only cut one of the beams more than a foot shorter than he should have, but the piece he selected had a knot in it. Serrano also placed the lumber in between the cross beams, Jones said.
When First Class Trucking driver Richard Sommerville crossed a set of railroad tracks about a mile before the accident, Jones said the beam cracked where the knot was, causing the load to shift and then spill.
Had the beam been longer and placed on top of the cross beams, the accident would never have happened, Jones said.
"(Serrano) set into motion a series of events that resulted in the devastating events that took the life of Mrs. (Linda) Cozzolino's only child and her only grandchildren," Jones said.
Jones further alleged that Northwest Pipe is negligent in that it doesn't have written rules and procedures in place dealing with pipe loading.
Skip Hudgins, an Atlanta attorney who represents Northwest Pipe, told jurors that Sommerville and loose straps are to blame for the accident.
"What did we do wrong? We cut a piece of wood a foot short. Of that, we have no doubt, but we believe the evidence will show that had nothing to do with the accident," Hudgins said.
Sommerville had a blood alcohol level of 0.05 an hour after the accident, Hudgins said. Commercial truck drivers in California are legally intoxicated at 0.04 percent.
"Alcohol impairs two things, perception and judgement," Hudgins said.
Not only did Sommerville allow two frayed straps to be used to secure his load, he failed to check them 25 miles into the trip as required by law, Hudgins said.
Moreover, Sommerville told authorities he felt his load sway and his wheels leave the road while crossing the railroad tracks, but he didn't stop to check the load then, either, Hudgins said.
"There's a saying in the trucking industry, 'If it can move an inch, it can move a mile,' and that's what happened in this case," Hudgins said.
Jurors were not told that Sommerville, 61, was sentenced to eight years in prison in December after pleading guilty to six counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
While lawsuits have also been filed by Melissa Ledford's estate and the children of the Vigils, it is unclear what the status is of those lawsuits.
Attorneys involved in the current trial declined to comment while the trial is ongoing.
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