THE LAST DAYS OF TONY MARTIN JR.

Tony Martin Jr. was driving north on the I-5 expressway on October 31, 2003, presumable on his way home. He had just passed the Templin Highway interchange, and was just north of it when he lost control of his car. His car veered towards the guardrail, but the section that he would have hit had been removed after being destroyed a week earlier by a previous accident. His car ran off the embankment and reportedly rolled several times, injuring Tony Martin Jr. very severely. He suffered from severe brain injuries, a broken pelvis, broken knee, and serious cranial fractures. He spent 5 weeks in a coma before awakening.

His mental level was found to have been reduced to that of a 5 year-old child. Liv Lindeland Martin sued the State of California in 2006, for the missing guardrail. The State of California's position was that there had not been time to repair the guardrail in the 6 days since it's original damage and removal, because at that same time, all available CalTrans personnel were occupied with forest fire and wildfire control on the expressways in other areas, that even if the guardrail would have been in place, it would not have saved him from the injuries, and that the original accident was Tony Martin Jr.s' fault for losing control of his car, which was NOT caused by any road condition or highway problem.

The State of California lost their case, and Liv Lindeland Martin was awarded $893,000 in direct damages, and future damages for the perpetual around-the-clock care of Tony Martin Jr. of $9,200.000.00. Tony Martin Jr. died on April 10th, 2011. Tony Martin Sr. died July 27th, 2012. Liv Lindeland Martin settled the Martin estate, and moved back to her native Norway in late 2012...