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Yoni Gottesman Civil Trial Wraps Up with Emotional Closing Appeals
After five weeks of testimony and tearful appeals from the witness stand, a jury Wednesday pondered the emotional closing arguments of lawyers from both sides in the Yoni Gottesman civil trial. The case began nearly four years ago, on Aug. 10, 2005, when the 4-year-old boy drowned in a swimming pool on his first day of summer camp at Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club. Yoni’s parents, Oded and Anat Gottesman, are seeking damages from 11 defendants, nearly all of whom have conceded negligence, and a jury must now decide if they are guilty of willful misconduct and, if so, determine the amount of the damages.
“It’s not compensation for Yoni, it’s compensation for the harm they did to Yoni,” the Gottesmans’ attorney, Barry Cappello, told jurors. “Life taken from you is priceless. But this system of ours requires consequences.”
Cappello began the statements and made an emotional appeal to the jury, and many were moved to tears during the presentation, in the jury box and the public gallery. Cappello showed a slideshow of Yoni at various stages of his short life. “He could swim ... this is a boy who went to that camp equipped as any child or better,” he said, as an image was projected behind him of a smiling Yoni getting into a swimming pool.
“They were completely broken. Their lives were destroyed,” Cappello said as he described the Gottesmans learning in the emergency room that their child had died. Cappello worked off a number of angles throughout the trial, including allegations that lifeguards at the pool weren’t trained and hired correctly, the facility operated an unlicensed day camp, and that the owners and managers of the health club emphasized “profit over protection.”
Arguments were also heard from attorneys of the defendants, which encouraged the jury to make a decision devoid of emotion, and maintained that the club cared about the children it admitted to its day camp. All of the plaintiffs have admitted negligence except for Cal-West, the corporation that manages Cathedral Oaks and a handful of other athletic clubs, and oversaw the company’s financial state.
For the defendants to avoid paying medical expenses and punitive damages, they would have to prove that Yoni died in the pool, and was in a state from which he could not be revived after he was pulled from the water.
Daniel Henderson, attorney for Cal-West, also cautioned the jury to compensate the loss fairly. “Isn’t it ironic that this beautiful young boy who was described as being such a gentle loving soul, that he would be used as a vehicle to punish people?” he asked.
“They want you to stampede like headless beasts, but you won’t,” he told the jury.
He said Cal-West and owner Richard Berti were not responsible for oversight management but only dealt with the company’s finances.
“How can a director be charged with knowledge of everything that’s going on?” he asked the jury. “Once the director learns of something through a report or a recommendation then the business director takes over and has to act on that information.”
Henderson said Yoni’s condition was “not salvagable” after he was pulled from the pool.
Because the burden of proof lies on the plaintiff, Cappello will be given the last word in the closing statements. His discourse was cut short by time constraints but he will wrap up his comments at 9 a.m. Thursday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderle’s court. The jury will then deliberate the case’s outcome.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Comments
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» on 04.23.09 @ 03:10 AM
Good story on a very tragic loss of life.
Too bad Cappello encouraged Yoni’s parents to pursue others in such a vengeful manner, particularly the teens who were working that day.
What kind of an atmosphere is it in which to raise Yoni’s three siblings?
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» on 04.23.09 @ 09:21 AM
Some controversial questions -
Remember when this tragic accident first happened? They all said, “This is NOT about money. We just want to know what happened to our son, and why.”
But now, it IS about money. Twenty million dollars worth. Is the plaintiff’s lawyer working for free, or on contingency (as he usually does)? When and why did this
change in focus happen?
This may sound awful, but the victim did not steal his parents car, drive to that
athletic facility, rush past the guards, and dive into a pool where he couldn’t swim.
That athletic facility did not kidnap him that sad day, and throw him into the
pool to drown him.
Someone took him, at only four years old, to be at a “camp”, and encouraged him to
be allow to swim with the others, even though, at the shallow end of the pool, the
water was all the way up to his chin.
Who did that? The lifeguards? The owner of the pool? The summer camp counselors?
If Freud were alive, he might speculate on whether someone is trying to sublimate
their own guilt and assuage their grief by blaming others. Of course, Freud was not a rich tort lawyer.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 09:23 AM
Are they serious? They sound like money grubbers. Yoni’s parents kinda have some screwed up values.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 12:12 PM
How is suing the responsible people vengeful? Some of these people should be going to jail. But, unfortunately the district atty didn’t want to pursue this case.
Cappello doesn’t have much to gain monetarily by suing individuals. It only complicates the lawsuit. I am sure that Yoni’s parents pushed for this in order to not let these people get away scot free.
RIP Yoni. You were a wonderful boy.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 01:17 PM
It is know by those attending the trial that the Gottesman’s are not seeking or expecting any damages from the lifeguards or counselors but only from the club and its management arm. It was necessary to include these parties in the suit for legal reasons and to get their testimony to show how the negligence went all the way down the hierarchy of the organization.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 01:44 PM
Laura Cooper: Correction: The jury needs to determine the amount of damages even if they do not decide there was willful misconduct. The club admitted negligence and suggested to the jury the (very low) amount of $1 to $2 million in damages for their negligence, but they deny willful misconduct.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 03:41 PM
Relax! To remind you all, money is the only thing the law allows the Gottesmans to demand from COAC! The law forces them to ask for money! Remember how the Sheriff and the DA screwed up the case, and misled our community with the facts?
The law suit is only after the corrupted executives & management, not after the young people!
Richard Berti and his Cathedral Oaks gang perjured, and did everything possible to avoid consequences to their despicable misconduct! They never took responsibility and tried to get away with taking Yoni’s life!
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» on 04.23.09 @ 03:44 PM
I wonder how many of the comments here were made by the Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club’s people… Typical Richard Berty tricks… The man who “contributed” money to the Sheriff right after Yoni’s death, and the person who perjured in court!
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» on 04.23.09 @ 03:55 PM
I wonder how many of the comments here were made by the Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club’s people… Typical Richard Berty tricks… The man who “contributed” money to the Sheriff right after Yoni’s death, and the person who perjured in court!
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» on 04.23.09 @ 04:24 PM
It is possible to disagree with this trial and not be a Cathedral Oaks member. It is shameful what has been said and written about the young adults who were named in this lawsuit. How is it possible for a parent who lost a chid to want to ruin the lives of other children? This will not bring their son back and I wonder how they can look at themselves in the mirror when they are ruining lives of others. I understand grief but I don’t understand vengeful behavior. Nothing but more misery for all parties will be gained from it.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 05:27 PM
Interesting if these comments reflect the Santa Barbara jury who will decide, especially if you eliminate the Jewish community who have shown an admirable solidarity but an obvious (odious?) bias. Money can’t buy me Love. I expect Cappello has oversold his case and goes home regretting getting involved. I hope our society doesn’t buy this line, my young son has a tragic accident so pay me and my attorney an obscene amount of money. We will know soon enough.
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» on 04.23.09 @ 06:35 PM
The Gottesman’s are wonderful, loving people. Their intent as parents are only to honor their children, by loving them, sheltering them, guiding them through the journey of life through education, nurturing and doing everything possible to insure their happiness and health. That summer day, they brought Yoni to a camp that was supposed to be safe and nurturing. He was supposed to have fun in the pool with his friends. He was a joyful, trusting, healthy little boy, as his parents were trusting. As all parents need to have faith in our community to promote growth and learning, and a safe environment. COAC was not only negligent, they were uncaring and completely irresponsible. And when the truth finally came out, what did they do? Perjure themselves, right in front of the judge, and in front of Anat and Oded. Shame on all of them. It is Richard Berti, who is all about money. Shame on you, for destroying their world, and Yoni’s. You have not only hurt the Gottesman’s in the most profound way, you have taken away the innocence and hope of our community. Yon’i life was worth more than any amount. His life is priceless. It is not about the money, and whoever had the nerve to say that, has never looked into the soul of a child, or their parents.
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» on 04.24.09 @ 04:12 AM
And on another note, and not a minor detail…...The counselors were supposed to place a life vest on Yoni…..so whoever commented on the depth of the water in the shallow end, has no merit. They NEGLECTED to put a vest on him, and he was TAKEN and DUNKED in the deep end, where he never should have been taken in the first place. Do you know the lung capacity of a 4 year old? Probably not. Why don’t you get your facts straight before demeaning the Gottesman’s unimaginable grief.
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» on 04.25.09 @ 01:35 AM
I can’t believe in what I am reading here..
You don’t know what you are talking about.
You can’t judge in such a wrong way just by reading an article! You are so far from the true.
Yoni’s parents care nothing about money! Nothing!
THe true is that some of the responsible people should have gone to jail years ago! Someone worked so that this couldn’t happen and now, there is not much left to do but this, in order to have justice.
I also want to quote enterily those words:
“It is know by those attending the trial that the Gottesman’s are not seeking or expecting any damages from the lifeguards or counselors but only from the club and its management arm. It was necessary to include these parties in the suit for legal reasons and to get their testimony to show how the negligence went all the way down the hierarchy of the organization. “
By the way, Yony’s life is worth way more than 20 millions if we want to talk about money. So, the reality is that this is the only way to make some people responsibile for their negligences.
Sure, as someone said, they will not bring their son back. So true. This is the only sad thing for me. But they have to do as much as they can to make sure that such things will not happen again, if possible!
Since the law at this point forces them to ask money in order to get some justice, well, the true is that any amount of money is simply not enough.
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» on 04.26.09 @ 12:30 PM
Barry Cappello never encouraged Yoni’s parents to pursue anyone in any vengeful manner. He just happens to be one great trial attorney, and this is why he was hired.
Mr. Coppello has made more money and donates more money to worthy causes than you can imagine!! The playground your kids have parties at up at Eilings park was made possible by the Cappello family. He has donated millions to law school’s so that law students will have a more enriching place to study. So, I doubt he took this case for money. He has enough to go around a few lifetimes. Believe it or not, sometimes an attorney may just take a case because he or she believes it is the right thing to do!!
Anat and Oded Gottesman are wonderful, family oriented people. They are all about their children, their happiness, education, life experiences, enrichment, and safety!!!! This is not about money!!!! They wanted those responsible to answer to a court of law, to look them in the eye, and answer how this happened!!!!!!!! These lifeguards, counselors, and COAC management and owners screwed up big time, and now they have to answer to the piper. Unfortunately, the only recourse we have in this country is to take people to court. This is just what they did. How do you compensate for all the birthday’s that are lost, the graduations they will never see? How do you put a price tag on a life time one has lost? How dare you people say this is about money. Do you know what the Gottesman’s plan on doing after this? Do you know if they plan on establishing a scholarship fund for kids? No, you know nothing…
Before you start criticizing them, put yourself in their shoes…. What would you do? Really, you can’t say until you were in that position. So, stop judging a family in pain. If you have nothing positive to say, don’t say anything at all.
We miss you Yoni, until we meet again….
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» on 04.27.09 @ 05:36 AM
We experienced this horrible tragedy along with the Haimovitz family, as our boys were friends of Yoni’s and attended camp with him at COAC. I picked our boys up from camp that day and witnessed the unbelievable scene.
I agree completely with Tina’s words above - none of us should judge this family in how they deal with their unthinkable loss. Yoni was a beautiful boy, full of life and love, and we will never forget him.
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» on 04.27.09 @ 11:19 PM
Thank you Tina.
I follow everything from Italy with sadness.
It’s hard for me to read such horrible comments about this wonderful family. Hug all of them for me.
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» on 05.20.09 @ 03:33 AM
How sickening to watch that video. It is frightening to see ALL the people who ignored him floating for 8 minutes!! I think that counselor who was dunking him recklessly should be put in jail as well as the lifeguard. Im sure the child swallowed an imense amount of water from the 20 or so dunks he got. He probably died from that! And trying to cover it up, these people should rot in jail! They are lucky all they have to do is dole out some money from the club. The ignorant counselor, lifeguard and management can move on with their lives, not even pay a fine for MURDERING a child! Absolutely discusting!!!
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» on 05.20.09 @ 03:48 AM
Those “teens” should be in jail! They murdered someones child!
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» on 05.20.09 @ 06:07 PM
Why was was the counselor dunking him? He should be charged with murder. If that were my kid, I would go after that punk and he would pay.
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» on 07.24.09 @ 12:56 PM
you people that blame the parents are sick.
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