The jury verdict is the largest jury verdict in a wrongful death trial involving a trailer-tractor collision in San Joaquin County history.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — On September 11^th, 2023, after a 5-week jury trial, Frantz Law Group won the largest jury verdict involving a wrongful death/tractor-trailer crash in the Superior Court of San Joaquin County in the City of Stockton’s history. The case was filed by the family of Army Veteran Pedro Avila against Joe Avis Farms, LLC and Johnny B. Groppetti.

A Joe Avis Farms silage truck driven by an unqualified truck driver ran out of fuel on California SR-99 at night after ignoring multiple warning systems on the truck that informed the driver that the truck was running out of fuel. As the truck ran out of fuel, he was unable to pull the truck safely onto the shoulder and out of traffic and was partially blocking the right side of the northbound lane of SR-99 south of Arch Road. In an effort to shield themselves from any fault for causing Pedro Avila’s death, the driver and Joe Avis Farms attempted a cover up of their failure to set out roadway safety devices, as required by state law, to warn oncoming traffic of the stalled truck that was partially blocking the far-right lane of the freeway. The defendants also fabricated a safety report by backdating it in an attempt to prove that a crucial inspection had taken place 5 days prior to the accident.

Pedro Avila was a 36-year-old commercial truck driver, a former Army combat veteran in the wars of Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait, struck the out-of-gas Joe Avis Farms silage truck blocking the freeway as he drove his truck northbound on SR-99. He sustained fatal injuries. The lawsuit filed by Frantz Law Group in the Superior Court of California in San Joaquin County alleged that gross negligence by Joe Avis Farms and Groppetti were the substantial factors that caused the collision and wrongful death of Pedro Avila.

“This settlement will not reverse the horrific tragedy that occurred on January 8, 2019, that took the life of Mr. Avila,” said James P. Frantz, CEO of Frantz Law Group. “Surviving the loss of a loving husband and father is a long and difficult process. We pray that the Avila family can finally begin this important step in healing.” Pedro Avila, was a loving father and husband and is survived by his wife Tabatha Avila and his six children, Bryan, Carla Marie, Dominik, Zamira, Korin, and Travis.

About Frantz Law Group, APLC
Frantz Law Group is an award-winning personal injury, wrongful death, catastrophic injury, trucking litigation, mass torts, and class action law firm that has been serving clients for over 44 years. Frantz Law Group has been ranked Tier 1 in U.S. News – Best Lawyers^® “Best Law Firms” from 2010-23 for mass tort litigation/class actions – plaintiffs. James Frantz is a fellow and associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates, is AV^® rated by Martindale-Hubbell^®, is a 20-year Special Master appointed by the State Bar of California and a 20-year Master in The Enright Chapter, American Inns of Court. For more information, please visit https://www.frantzlawgroup.com

Media contact: Infofrantzlaw@gmail.com

SOURCE Frantz Law Group