SCI PLAINTIFF'S ORIGINAL PETITION AND DISCOVERY REQUESTS. ComWnow VANESSA SAMUDIO, Plaintiff herein, complaining of CITY OF SAN

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1 CAU SCI -G'.l VANESSA SAMUDIO VS..?,- CITY OF SAN ANTONIO I IN THE DISTRICT COURT JUDICIAL DISTRICT BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS PLAINTIFF'S ORIGINAL PETITION AND DISCOVERY REQUESTS TO THE H0lg5? MJ5E"JUDGE OF SAID COURT: ComWnow VANESSA SAMUDIO, Plantff heren, complanng of CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Defendant heren, and for cause of acton and grounds therefore, would respectfully show unto ths Honorable Court as follows: : DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN 1. Dscovery n ths cause should be conducted under a Level 3 Dscovery I Control Plan. TEX. R. Cv. P PARTIES 2. Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, s an ndvdual resdng n San Antono, Bexar County, Texas. 3. Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, s a governmental muncpalty and may be served wth process, by servng ts Cty Manager, Sheryl L. Scully, at P.O. Box , San Antono, Texas , or by servng ts Cty Clerk, Ms. Letca M. Vacek, Offce of the Cty Clerk, at P.O. Box , San Antono, Texas Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests Page 1

2 VENUE AND JURISDICTION 4. Venue s proper n Bexar County because all or a substantal part of the events and/or omssons gvng rse to Plantff's clams occurred n Bexar County. TEX. Cv. PRAC. & REM. CODE (a). Jursdcton s proper n ths Court because Plantffs damages exceed the mnmum jursdctonal lmts of the Court. FACTS j! 5. On or about Aprl 3,2008, at approxmately 10:00 p.m., Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, was operatng a motor vehcle, a 1992 Acura Integra, at all tmes n a lawful and prudent manner, exercsng ordnary care for her safety and the safety of others. She was drvng southbound n the 7600 block of Blanco Road n San Antono, Bexar County, Texas. At that locaton, Blanco Road conssts of two lanes of travel n each drecton (north/south) and a mddle turn lane. 6. From the mddle turn lane of Blanco Road, Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, proceeded to make a left turn nto the Sunray Apartments located at 7600 Blanco Road n a lawful and prudent manner, exercsng ordnary care for her safety and the safety of others. As she turned, her vehcle was suddenly and volently struck by a San Antono Polce Department cruser, operated by a San Antono Polce Department offcer and owned by Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, travelng northbound on Blanco Road at an excessve and unsafe speed. 7. The San Antono Polce Department offcer operated sad vehcle n an unlawful, mprudent, and reckless manner, by recklessly falng to mantan a proper speed, falng to mantan a proper lookout, falng to tmely slow and/or stop the polce cruser, and Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests : Page 2

3 falng to take proper evasve procedures, such as a reasonable drver usng ordnary care would have done under the same or smlar crcumstances. As a result of the foregong neglgence, the polce cruser volently struck Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, causng devastatng damage to Plantffs vehcle and grevous and lfe-threatenng, njures to Plantff, of whch Plantff now complans. 8. Plantff would show that the above-descrbed collson and the resultng njures, harm, and damages were brought about and caused to occur drectly and proxmately by the neglgence of the Defendant and ts agents and/or employees. More specfcally, Plantff would show that the San Antono Polce Department offcer who caused the collson was, at the tme the wrongful acts and/or omssons were commtted, and at all tmes relevant to ths lawsut, the agent, servant, and/or employee of Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, and was actng wthn the scope of hs authorty n operatng the polce cruser. Plantff would show further that sad vehcle was owned and/or operated n the furtherance of the busness of Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. ; 9. The acts and/or omssons of Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, by and through ts agents, servants, and/or employees, proxmately caused and/or contrbuted to t cause the njury, harm, and damages complaned of by Plantffs heren. Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, s therefore lable for Plantffs damages under the doctrne of respondeat superor. TEXAS TORT CLAIMS ACT 10. Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, brngs ths sut pursuant to the Texas Tort Clams Act, TEX. Cv. PRAC. & REM. CODE , for her personal njures Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests. ' Page 3

4 whch were proxmately caused by Defendant. 11. Plantff would further show unto ths Honorable Court that the San Antono Polce Department offcer who caused the collson, an agent, servant, and/or employee of Defendant named heren, whle actng n the course and scope of hs employment wth sad Defendant, was neglgent n the followng acts of commsson and omsson, among others, to-wt: ' a. n falng to keep and mantan a proper lookout as a person usng ordnary care would have kept under the same or smlar crcumstances; b. n falng to make such applcaton of the brakes of hs vehcle as a person usng ordnary care would have made under the same or smlar crcumstances; c. n falng to tmely apply the brakes of hs vehcle n order to avod the collson n queston;! d. n falng to take proper evasve measures; e. n drvng hs vehcle n wllful or wanton dsregard for the safety of persons and property; and f. n drvng hs vehcle at a rate of speed n excess of that whch a person of ordnary prudence n the exercse of ordnary care would have drven under the same or smlar crcumstances. :! 12. Plantff would show each of the above acts and omssons, whether sngularly or n combnaton wth others, consttuted neglgence, and such neglgence was a proxmate cause of the occurrence n queston and Plantffs resultng njures. DAMAGES 13. As a drect and proxmate result of the occurrence made the bass of ths lawsut, Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, was caused to suffer njures and damages as Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests Page 4

5 follows: [ a. reasonable and necessary medcal expenses n the past; b. reasonable and necessary medcal expenses whch, n reasonable probablty, Plantff wll suffer n the future; ' c. lost wages; j d. loss of earnng capacty; e. physcal pan and mental angush n the past; f. physcal pan and mental angush whch, n reasonable probablty, Plantff wll suffer n the future; g. physcal dsfgurement n the past; h. physcal dsfgurement whch, n reasonable probablty, Plantff; wll suffer n the future;. physcal mparment n the past; and, j. physcal mparment whch, n reasonable probablty, Plantff wll suffer n the future. 14. Plantffs damages as set out above are n an amount n excess of the mnmum jursdctonal lmts of the Court. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT 15. All condtons precedent to ths cause of acton have been performed or have otherwse occurred. ' JURY DEMAND 16. Plantff submts her demand for a tral by jury and tenders the requste fee. PRAYER WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, prays Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests Page 5

6 that Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, be duly cted to appear and answer heren; and that upon a fnal tral hereof, Plantff recover judgment for actual damages from Defendant for a just and reasonable sum wthn the jursdctonal lmts of ths Court; for pre-judgment and post-judgment nterest at the hghest legal rate; for costs of Court heren expended; and for such other and further relef, general and specfc, at law and n equty, to whch Plantff may show herself justly enttled. PLAINTIFF'S DISCOVERY REQUESTS TO DEFENDANT Pursuant to the Texas Rules of Cvl Procedure, Plantff hereby propounds the followng dscovery requests upon Defendant: 1. Plantff s Requests for Dsclosure; 2. Plantffs Requests for Producton; 3. Plantffs Requests for Admssons; and, : 4. Plantffs Interrogatores., DEFINITIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAINTIFF'S DISCOVERY REQUESTS 1. As used heren, the terms "you" and "your" shall refer to the Defendant n ths lawsut, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Defendant's attorneys, agents, and all other natural persons or busness or legal enttes actng or purportng to act for or on behalf of Defendant, whether authorzed to do so or not. I 2. As used heren, the term "documents" shall mean all wrtngs of every knd, source and authorshp, both orgnals and all nondentcal copes thereof, n your possesson, custody, or control, or known by you to exst, rrespectve of whether the wrtng s one ntended for or transmtted nternally by you, or ntended for or transmtted to any other person or entty, ncludng wthout lmtaton any government agency, department, admnstratve, or prvate entty or person. The term shall nclude handwrtten, typewrtten, prnted, photocoped, photographc, or recorded matter. It shall nclude communcatons n words, symbols, pctures, sound recordngs, flms, tapes, and nformaton stored n, or accessble through, computer or other nformaton storage or retreval systems, together wth the codes and/or programmng nstructons and other materals necessary to understand and use such systems. For purposes of llustraton and not lmtaton, the term shall nclude: affdavts; agendas; agreements; analyses; announcements; blls, statements, and other records of oblgatons and expendtures; books; brochures; bulletns; calendars; canceled checks, vouchers, recepts and other records of payments; charts or drawngs; check regsters; checkbooks; crculars; collateral Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests Page 6

7 qualfed. INTERROGATORY NUMBER 13: If you contend that any opnon rendered by any expert dentfed by Plantff s not "relable" wthn the meanng of Robnson v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours, 923 S.W.2d 549 (Tex. 1995), or n any subsequent opnon by the Supreme Court of Texas whch you contend extends the holdngs of Robnson, please state the substance of that opnon and descrbe the bass for your contenton. INTERROGATORY NUMBER 14: Please state the date on whch you frst subjectvely beleved that there was a substantal chance that ltgaton would arse from the ncdent made the bass of ths lawsut? What facts gave rse to your subjectve relef? INTERROGATORY NUMBER 15: Please state the exstence and contents of any nsurance agreement under whch any person carryng on an nsurance busness may be lable to satsfy part or all of a judgment whch may be rendered n ths case or to1 ndemnfy or remburse for payments made to satsfy the judgment. Include n ths answer the exstence of any applcable nsurance polcy, whether t be prmary, secondary, excess, or umbrella and the polcy or lablty lmts of each applcable polcy, and statng whether or not ths Defendant s covered under the polcy. INTERROGATORY NUMBER 16: If you dened any of the above Request for Admssons, please state all reasons for such denal. Respectfully submtted: STOUWIE & MAYO, P.L.LC N.W. Loop 410 San Antono, TX Telephone: (210) Telefax: (210) , BY: KEVIN W. STOUWIE State Bar No MATTHEW M. EDWARDS State Bar No Attorneys for Plantff Plantffs' Orgnal Petton and Dscovery Requests Page 26

8 No CI ll VANESSA SAMUDIO IN THE DISTRICT COURT V. 407TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT CITY OF SAN ANTONIO BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS DEFENDANT CITY OF SAN ANTONIO'S ORIGINAL ANSWER AND d REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURES 3 TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT: Now comes CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Defendant, n the above-enttled and numbered cause. Reservng the rght to fle other and further pleadngs, exceptons, and denals, Defendant Cty of San Antono fles ths document as ts Orgnal Answer to Plantffs Orgnal Petton, and Defendant would respectfully show the Court as follows: I. General Denal Defendants generally deny each and every, all and sngular, the allegatons contaned n Plantffs Petton and demand strct proof thereof by preponderance of the evdence. II. Home-rule Muncpalty Defendant Cty specfcally asserts that t s a home-rule muncpalty pursuant to ts Cty Charter and the laws of the State of Texas and s therefore enttled to all the rghts and prvleges assocated wth ts status as a governmental entty. III. Soveregn Immunty Defendant Cty pleads the governmental defenses, mmuntes and lmtatons of lablty to whch t s enttled pursuant to common law and statutory law, ncludng Chapter 101, et seq, of the Texas Cvl Practce & Remedes Code, also known as the Texas Tort Clams Act. Defendants also plead all mmunty-related defenses avalable to them under both common and Page 1 of 3

9 statutory law, ncludng soveregn mmunty, mmunty from lablty, offcal mmunty, qualfed mmunty, mmunty from damages and lmtatons on clams and awards. IV. Lmtaton of Lablty Defendant Cty pleads the lmtaton of lablty provded by Secton (c) of the Texas Cvl Practce and Remedes Code n effect at the tme of the flng of Plantff s Orgnal Petton. Defendant also pleads the lmtaton of lablty provded by Secton (a) of the Texas Cvl Practce and Remedes Code n effect at the tme of the flng of Plantffs Orgnal Petton and all other applcable damage lmtatons n effect. V. Notce Defendant, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, would further show that t dd not have adequate notce of the clams made the bass of Plantff s Orgnal Petton pursuant to Secton 150 of the Charter of the Cty of San Antono. Bexar County, Texas nor pursuant to the Texas Tort Clams Act. Texas Cvl Practce and Remedes Code as a matter of law. VI. Request for Dsclosure In accordance wth Rule 194 of the Texas Rules of Cvl Procedure you are hereby requested to dsclose, n wrtng and wthn 30 days of servce of ths request, all of the nformaton and materal descrbed n Rule of the Texas Rules of Cvl Procedure. VII. Jury Tral Defendant demands a jury tral. PRAYER WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Defendant Cty of San Antono prays that Plantff take nothng by her lawsut aganst t, that Defendants has judgment heren, and that the Page 2 of 3

10 Defendant be awarded ts costs expended, and for such other and further relef, both general and specal, at law and n equty, to whch t may show tself justly enttled. Respectfully submtted, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO Mchael D. Bernard, Cty Attorney SBN: Offce of the Cty Attorney Ltgaton Dvson ll Soledad St., 10th Floor San Antono, Texas (210) /a ^57 F DAVID M. WILLIAMS Assstant Cty Attorney SBN: Attorney for Defendant Cty CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certfy that a true and correct copy of the foregong nstrument has been served on the followng on May 2- ^, 2008: Kevn Stouwe STOUWIE & MAYO 3238 N.W. Loop 410 San Antono. Texas D CMRRR [~] Hand Delvery Fax DAVID M. WILLIAMS Page 3 of 3

11 VANESSA SAMUDIO V. CITY OF SAN ANTONIO No CI FINAL JUDGMENT IN THE DISTRICT COURT 407TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS On ths date, came on to be heard the above-styled and numbered cause, wheren Defendant CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, Plantff VANESSA SAMUDIO, and Intervenors HUGO MENDEZ and MARIA MARTINEZ MENDEZ announced that all matters n controversy between the partes have been compromsed and settled by agreement, and that such agreement was to the effect that Plantff VANESSA SAMUDIO and Intervenors HUGO MENDEZ and MARIA MARTINEZ MENDEZ take nothng aganst the Defendant, CITY. OF SAN ANTONIO, and that costs of Court ncurred n ths sut shall be taxed aganst each party. IT IS THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Plantff, VANESSA SAMUDIO, take nothng by her sut aganst Defendant CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Intervenors HUGO MENDEZ and MARIA MARTINEZ MENDEZ take nothng aganst the Defendant CITY OF 2 SAN ANTONIO. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the costs of Court ncurred n ths sut be taxed aganst each party. Ths dsmssal s wth prejudce to reflng. 3 \ I SIGNED ths the L$f. day of f\,ufcv JUDGE PRESIDING" # Samudo - Fnal Judgment

12 APPROVED AS TO FORM: CITY OF SAN ANTONIO Cty Attorney's Offce 111 SoledadSt., 10thFloor San Antono, Texas Phone (210) / Fax (210) DAVID M. WILLIAMS Assstant Cty Attorney SBN: Attorney for Defendant Cty and STOUWIE & MAYO, PC 3238N.W. Loop 410 San Antono, Texas Phone (210) / Fax (210) KEVIN STOUWIE SBN: Attorneys for Plantff Samudo V 0 --and LAW OFFICE OF FIDEL RODRIGUEZ, JR. Rvervew Towers 111 Soledad, Sute 1300 San Antono, Texas Phone (2 1 0) /V / Fax p G GEORGE L. SALINAS, JR. SBN: Attorney for Intervenors Mendez # Samudo - Fnal Judgment