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Anchorwoman awarded $87k for killing of Lulu

By KELLY NIX

Published: March 12, 2010

A MONTEREY County jury Tuesday awarded KCBA and KION anchorwoman Olga Ospina $87,000 for a 2007 Labrador attack in front of the Pacific Grove post office nearly three years ago that fatally injured her Maltese.

In October 2008, Ospina filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Lab, Donna Bazan, for allowing the Lab and another dog, a German shepherd, to escape through a window of Bazan’s Ford Explorer and attack Ospina and her dog, Lulu, on July 25, 2007.

The jury, after a four-and-a-half day trial, decided Bazan’s father, Donald Armstrong, 82, who was in the Ford Explorer on a cell phone at the time, was negligent because he did little to stop the attack.

Ospina, 38, was awarded $15,000 for past pain and suffering, $7,500 for future mental suffering and about $29,000 for Ospina’s expenses, which include vet bills, medical expenses, wage loss and the $2,000 Ospina spent on another Maltese to replace Lulu. The jury also awarded $36,000 in punitive damages — which state law allows in egregious cases.

Ospina testified that the attack left her with frequent flashbacks and nightmares for which she sought therapy and anti-anxiety and antidepressant medication. She also said she lost weight and didn’t feel like socializing after the event.
Though Bazan and Armstrong’s attorney, William Gavin, declined to comment after the verdict Tuesday, Ospina’s attorney, J. Kenneth Gorman, said Gavin told him he will appeal the punitive damages, a process that could take up to two years to resolve.

After the verdict, Ospina told The Pine Cone she was thankful to the people who supported her during the trial. She later released a lengthier statement through her attorney.

“I was very touched that so many people cared, and it was very gratifying to hear from so many people who believed that we were doing the right thing,” according to Ospina.

The anchorwoman also called the jury’s verdict “just and fair.”

“I hope that the message they sent resonates: that people must act responsibly, and when their failure to do that results in people or animals being harmed, they will be held accountable,” Ospina said.

According to Gorman, if Ospina wins the appeal, she will donate a “large percentage of any net collected punitive damages to the SPCA.”

During the dog attack, which happened in front of the P.G. post office at about 11 a.m., Ospina was walking her small dog on a leash when the Labrador, Samson, and the German shepherd, Kodiak, jumped through a partially opened back window of the Ford explorer.

The attack, which also left Ospina with a minor dog bite wound to her wrist, left serious injuries to the Maltese, which died several days later at a Santa Cruz veterinary hospital.

During the trial, the dogs’ ownership and whether Armstrong did anything to stop the attack were key points. Bazan and her son were across the street at a coffee shop when the incident occurred.

Though Gorman failed to convince the jury Armstrong was the owner of the dogs, the jury determined 12-0 that Armstrong had “care, custody and/or control of the dogs” at the time of the attack. The jury believed Bazan was the sole owner of the two dogs.

Ospina had sought to have Samson euthanized, but the dog underwent behavioral training classes and hasn’t shown aggression toward other animals or people. Kodiak has since died.

Armstrong, who has hearing difficulties and sometimes wears a hearing aid, testified during the trial he was on a conference call on his cell phone and was so engaged in the call that he didn’t hear the commotion from the dog attack.

Armstrong also didn’t realize the dogs had escaped.

Besides Armstrong’s hearing problems, Gavin in closing arguments also pointed to the 82-year-old’s lack of mobility as a reason he couldn’t intervene.

During the attack, which Ospina believed lasted one to five minutes, a man at a garden shop a half-block away heard her screams and helped stop the melee.

During testimony Monday and Tuesday, numerous spectators and fans of Ospina showed up to the Monterey courtroom, including one man who brought roses for the anchorwoman.