By admin 
Attorneys on Thursday wrapped up their arguments in a civil case against Sacramento Kings minority owner Phil Oates filed by the widow of a motorcyclist who died in a traffic collision with the businessman in a suburban neighborhood.
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Oates, 75, was responsible for the 2024 incident in Granite Bay, but not cited or found to be grossly negligent, records show. But after he was unable to reach a settlement with Miranda Flores, whose husband, Patrick Mulderrig, was riding the motorcycle, she sued, seeking $45 million.
The case sets a difficult task before the jury of eight men and four women — how to assess the value of human life and loss in a case where severe misbehavior is not alleged, punitive damages are not allowed and the wealth of the parties cannot be a consideration.
On Thursday, Oates’ attorney made his final argument in the two-week trial at Placer County’s historic Auburn courthouse, questioning Flores’ financial demands and offering instead a calculation of loss that hovered at around $4 million. While Flores is asking for more than 10 times that, lawyer Chris Hogan reminded the jury that the sum was still significant.
“Four million dollars is a ton of money,” Hogan said. “How many people have that kind of money?”
Hogan said it was fair to compensate Flores for the value of Mulderrig’s state pension and for the loss of his life and companionship. The pension, he said, was worth about $1.4 million, and an award of $1.5 million to $2 million would be appropriate for the value of his life. Additional compensation should include the cost of medical care as doctors tried to save Mulderrig’s life, as well as some other payments.
But he said the jury should not grant Flores’ demand for an additional $10 million for her husband’s pain, suffering or disfigurement. The motorcyclist was unconscious and in a coma from the moment he hit the ground to his death 5 hours later, Hogan said, citing testimony from first responders and doctors. No evidence could prove that Mulderrig, who was 60 at the time of the crash, felt pain or lived long enough to deal with being disfigured, Hogan said.
“This was a fatal accident,” Hogan said. “He never woke up, and that’s what happened.”
Hogan also asked jurors not to award Flores the more than $1 million she sought for the value of chores Mulderrig, a retired California Highway Patrol officer, performed around their home. Such chores were worth closer to $100,000, Hogan said.
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Hogan similarly asked jurors to disregard Flores’ request to be compensated for the value of future gifts that Muderrig might have purchased for her. Any gifts would be paid for from Mulderrig’s state pension income, and the two sides had already agreed on its value, Hogan said.
Flores, who testified in the trial but did not attend most of the hearings, was not in court on Thursday. Her attorney, Roger Dreyer, was set to make his final rebuttal to Hogan’s arguments Thursday afternoon.
Oates attended the trial every day and testified in his own defense. The chair of Buzz Oates, the commercial real estate firm founded by his father, sat in the second row of Placer County’s historic courthouse in Auburn, wearing a black headset to aid in hearing the proceedings.
On Thursday, he wore a black blazer, gray pants and a blue shirt. During the trial, Oates testified that he initially did not see Mulderrig heading toward him in the left westbound lane of Douglas Boulevard in Granite Bay on a sunny early evening in May 2024.
Oates, who was heading home after a trip to a nearby Carl’s Jr. fast food restaurant, began to turn left from Douglas Boulevard to Kingsgate Drive. When he saw Mulderrig approaching, he tried to speed up his turn, thinking he could avoid the motorcyclist, but they both went into the right westbound lane and Mulderrig, on a red Harley-Davidson Sportster, slammed into the right rear passenger side of Oates’ Cadillac SUV.
Mulderrig’s motorcycle left no skid marks, indicating he had not tried to slow down, and the impact spun the Cadillac around by 180 degrees, the CHP officer who responded to the crash testified.
The officer, Michael Zerfas, testified that Oates had not been drinking, using drugs or on his cellphone. His view of the approaching motorcycle might have been blocked by raised landscaping, Zerfas testified. The Placer County District Attorney’s office declined to file criminal charges against Oates.
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The case was expected to go to the jury for deliberations late Thursday.