In December 2022, two brothers were parked on the shoulder of Interstate 5, dealing with mechanical issues, when a City of Sacramento police detective speeding in the far-right lane drifted over the fog line and entered the shoulder. He hit the disabled truck and then struck the brothers, killing them both.
One brother, Carlos R., left two children behind: a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old at the time of the accident. Carlos’s fiancée, Jessica R., went to Demas and Tim Spangler, attorneys at Demas Law Group, to represent their children in court.
Nearly four years later, the jury deliberated for just over an hour before returning with a historic verdict of $32 million for Carlos’s now 14-year-old and 10-year-old children.
“It was really a validation of the jury to understand the true value of the loss that was taken from these children and realizing the depths of that relationship that they had with their dad,” Demas said. “Having 12 people with a unanimous verdict really proved that point.”
Throughout the trial, Demas and Spangler were able to provide powerful evidence from three witnesses, 70 photographs, and 15 clips, including a dashcam video provided by a tanker truck driver that captured the entire incident.