A state appeals court has upheld a $42,146.67 restitution order against a driver in a deadly crash in Novato.
The crash happened in June 2018 at the intersection of Center Road and Wilson Avenue. Police said Taylor Steven Brindley drove his Jeep through a stop sign on Center Road and struck a Ford F-150.
The crash severely injured the driver of the Ford and two passengers. Novato police arrested Brindley, then 24, on suspicion of intoxicated driving, reckless driving causing injuries, blowing a stop sign and driving with a suspended license for a prior DUI case.
The injured driver, 70-year-old Jimmy Lee Hogges of Novato, died at a hospital the next day.
Brindley pleaded guilty in 2019 to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to the appeals court. He received an eight-year prison sentence.
Brindley’s insurance carrier reached a $250,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by Hogges’ family. But later family members sought the additional $42,146.67 for expenses such as litigation fees, funeral costs and lost wages, the appeals court said.
Brindley contested the payment, arguing that the lawsuit settlement covered the restitution. The prosecution opposed him.
“The parties also disagreed about whether Brindley was entitled to offset the settlement proceeds against the other requested expenses and whether claimants had received payments from the victim compensation fund for the funeral expenses,” the appellate ruling said.
Judge Kevin Murphy ruled against Brindley in Marin County Superior Court. A lawyer for Brindley filed a petition asking the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco to review the decision.
In an opinion released on Nov. 24, a three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the previous restitution order.
“The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding restitution. A civil settlement and release does not discharge a defendant from his constitutional obligation to pay restitution in a criminal case,” Justice Jeremy Goldman wrote. “However, settlement payments made to a victim on the defendant’s behalf must be used to offset the restitution award ‘to the extent that those payments are for items of loss included in the restitution order.’”
Goldman said the expenses involved did not entitle Brindley to offsets.
Martin Kassman, a Kelseyville lawyer who represented Brindley, declined to comment on the ruling on Monday.
