Cantu v. United States, CASE NO. CV 14-00219 MMM (JCGx)
| Decision Date | 07 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | CASE NO. CV 14-00219 MMM (JCGx) |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Central District of California |
| Parties | MICHAEL CANTU, Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Counterclaimant, v. MICHAEL CANTU, Counterdefendant. |
On January 9, 2014, Michael Cantu filed this action against the United States of America and United States Customs and Border Patrol ("CBP") supervisory officer Owen Takeshi Teruya.1 On April 10, 2014, the United States of America (the "government") was substituted as defendant for OfficerTeruya pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(2).2 On April 21, 2014, the government answered the complaint and filed a counterclaim against Cantu.3 Cantu filed an answer to the counterclaim on May 9, 2014.4 On May 4, 2015, the counterclaim was dismissed pursuant to the parties' stipulation.5
Cantu's negligence claim was tried to the court on May 5 and 6, 2015.6 Following the trial, both parties submitted post-trial briefs detailing what they believed the evidence had established.7 Having considered the evidence and the parties' arguments, the court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law under to Rule 52(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
1. Michael Cantu has worked as a longshoreman at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, and has been a member of the International Longshoreman Warehouse Union ("ILWU") Local 13 since 2000.8 Cantu is currently a Class A longshoreman; this followedservice as a Class B longshoreman for three years.9 As a Class A longshoreman, Cantu regularly engaged in physical activity, such as loading and unloading trains and shipping containers, locking shipping containers together, climbing up ocean-going vessels and railcars, and lifting objects heavier than thirty-five pounds.10
2. Officer Owen Teruya is a Supervisory Customs and Border Protection officer employed by the United States Department of Homeland Security: Customs and Border Protection ("CBP").11 Teruya has been employed by CBP for twenty-six years.12 For the last eighteen years, he has been with the CBP's Antiterrorism and Contraband Enforcement Team in Carson, California.13 The Antiterrorism and Contraband Enforcement Team is primarily charged with interdicting illegal narcotics passing through seaports between Dana Point, California, and San Luis Obispo, California.14 As a member of the team, Teruya has typically supervised twelve CBP officers on two enforcement teams that work almost daily at the Los Angeles and Long Beach seaport complexes.15 While at the ports, Teruya and his team search containers and ocean-going vessels; they also conduct surveillance and scan shipping containers for indicia of narcotics or terrorist influence.16
3. The Stevedore Services of America ("SSA") Terminal (the "Terminal") is located at Pier A inthe Port of Long Beach.17 The Terminal comprises approximately 200 acres, on which thousands of large metal shipping containers are stored before and after they are loaded onto or off ships, trains, and semi-trucks.18
4. The Terminal contains "Breakways," which are paved roadways that run north and south between the Terminal's main entrance to the north and the waterline to the south. It also has "Rows," which are paved roadways that run east and west between the shipping containers.19
5. Breakway 100 is approximately 60 feet wide. It has no traffic controls, stop signs, or stop lines.20
6. Row S-200 is the first Row to intersect Breakway 100 after one comes through the main entrance to the Terminal.21 It is approximately 30 feet wide and, like all other Rows, has a stop line for eastbound and westbound traffic at its intersection with Breakway 100.22
7. The Terminal has a speed limit of 15 miles per hour that is applicable to all drivers. Kirk Wargo, the Yard Superintendent at the Terminal, testified that, since at least 2006, there has been a speed limit at the Terminal of 15 miles per hour.23 Wargo stated that this speed limit has been posted at the entrance gate to the Terminal, a gate through which all vehicles must pass and that it has been communicated to the drivers of all vehicles entering the Terminal, including CBP officers.24 Wargo stated that the speed limit applies to all individuals operating vehicles onTerminal property.25 Cantu similarly testified that the Terminal had a 15 mile per hour speed limit that applied to all drivers.26 Although Officer Teruya and Officer Canaria, the Long Beach police officer who responded to the accident involving Cantu and Teruya, testified that they did not recall seeing a speed limit sign posted in the Terminal,27 neither man's testimony contradicts Wargo's statement, which the court finds to be credible, that the speed limit at the Terminal was 15 miles per hour and that every individual entering the Terminal passed by a sign advising them of this fact.
8. The automobile accident giving rise to this litigation occurred at approximately 7:50 a.m. on April 18, 2011.28
9. The accident occurred at the intersection of Breakway 100 and Row S-200.29
10. At the time of the accident, Officer Teruya was traveling southbound on Breakway 100 in a 2008 Ford Explorer owned by the CBP.30 Teruya had entered through Gate 1 at the northwest corner of the Terminal, turned right onto Breakway 100 after stopping at a stop line, and traveled approximately 135 feet southbound prior to the collision.31
11. Teruya was acting in the course and scope of his employment with the CBP at the time of the accident.32
12. Cantu was traveling westbound on Row S-200 in a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup truck owned by SSA immediately prior to the accident.33
13. Cantu was acting in the course and scope of his employment as a longshoreman for SSA at the time of the accident.34
14. On the date of the accident, a 45 foot long, 8 foot wide, 10 foot high metal shipping container was located at the northeast corner of Breakway 100 and Row S-200 intersection, i.e., immediately to Cantu's right as he arrived at the intersection.35 The container was parallel to Breakway 100 and perpendicular to Row S-200.36 The container was located approximately six inches west of the stop line, such that it extended approximately 8.5 feet into Breakway 100.37
15. As Cantu approached the stop line at the intersection of Row S-200 and Breakway 100, the shipping container to his right was positioned so that he could not see southbound traffic on the breakway.38
16. The evidence as to whether Cantu stopped at the stop line at the Row S-200/Breakway 100 intersection is conflicting. Cantu testified that he stopped when he reached the intersection; he could not say, however, whether he stopped "on the line."39 Cantu's expert accident reconstructionist, Christopher Brignola, testified that based on Cantu's purported speed at the time of the collision and other facts, it was likely that Cantu did not come to a complete stop at the intersection, but rather performed a rolling stop, or a "California stop."40 Likewise, GregoryPeck, the government's accident reconstruction expert, testified that based on his post-collision analysis, Cantu did not stop at the stop line.41
17. Given the equivocal nature of Cantu's testimony, the court credits the testimony of the parties' respective experts and concludes that Cantu did not come to a complete stop at the Row S-200 intersection prior to entering Breakway 100.
18. Cantu's was the first vehicle to enter the intersection.42
19. As Cantu entered Breakway 100 and began to cross, he noticed Teruya heading southbound.43
20. As Teruya approached Row S-200, he was not looking forward, but rather was looking down and to his right, i.e., towards the west side of the intersection.44 Teruya testified that he was looking down and to his right so that he could look underneath the chassis of tractor trailers that were parked along the northwest edge of the intersection.45 The tractor trailers were parked along the north edge of Row S-200 as it proceeded west after the intersection with Breakway 100, and were parked perpendicular to Row S-200.46
21. The front of Teruya's Ford Explorer collided with the right rear of Cantu's Ford Ranger.47 The collision occurred approximately 49.5 feet into Breakway 100 from the stop line for westboundtraffic on Row S-200.48 The impact point on the Explorer was the front bumper on the passenger side; the impact point on the Ranger was the back half of the truck on the passenger side.49
22. Cantu accelerated immediately before the collision.50
23. As the collision occurred, Teruya applied the brakes.51
24. At the time of impact, Cantu was traveling between 24 and 32 miles per hour. Teruya was traveling between 17 and 21 miles per hour.52
25. Following the collision, Cantu's Ranger spun clockwise and rolled onto its roof where it ultimately came to rest in the westbound lane of Row S-200 west of the intersection with Breakway 100.53
26. Cantu was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision; as a result, he remained secured in his seat as his vehicle spun and rolled over.54
27. Teruya immediately pulled his Explorer out of Breakway 100 and attempted to assist Cantu.55
28. Cantu crawled out of his vehicle without assistance.56 He was not bleeding or in any apparent pain and walked around the accident scene.57 Teruya testified that, in response to his inquiry,Cantu said he was "okay" and was not injured.58
29. Paramedics from the Long Beach Fire Department and officers from the Long Beach Police Department ("LBPD") were immediately called to the Terminal following the accident.59
30. Officer Dennis Canaria was one of two LBPD officers who responded to the accident scene.60 Canaria, who testified at trial,61 has been a police officer with the City of Long Beach for 22 years and has been assigned to LBPD's Port Police Division for nearly nine...
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