Former student’s parents file suit against multiple parties

A lawsuit has been filed against a local doctor and the city and county of San Luis Obispo districts of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans District 5) by the parents of a Cal Poly student who died April 4, 2010. 

The parents of Matthew Hurlbutt, the 21-year-old student who was hit by a truck while walking on Highway 101 near the Santa Rosa Street exit, are filing negligence for the accident.

Toxicology reports state that the industrial engineering junior had significant amounts of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana in his system when he walked onto the freeway. He was hit by a 2002 Toyota Tacoma at approximately 1 a.m. by driver Ronald Reinhardt and was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers investigating the scene said Reinhardt could not have evaded the accident.

Lee and Michelle Hurlbutt are suing Caltrans based on their claims that the freeway area did not have enough lighting or warning signs and barriers to prevent pedestrians from crossing and going onto the freeway.

The lawsuit states: “The area was so poorly lit that the dangers of crossing there were concealed, and further, it was so dark at that area, that when decedent did cross the US-101 he was not visible to the driver that struck him until after he had been struck by the driver.”

Since this is an imminent case, Caltrans is alert of the lawsuit but cannot comment any further.

“We’re aware of the case, and we generally do not comment on pending litigations,” Jim Shivers, public information officer for Caltrans District 5 said.

Furthermore, the one-sided lawsuit filed March 29 in the San Luis Obispo Superior Court has local doctor Atsuko Rees amongst the listed parties. It claims the doctor prescribed Hurlbutt with medical marijuana, harming his safety conditions. The lawsuit argues that Hurlbutt did not need marijuana for any medical purposes.

The lawsuit continues to claim that Rees was “known in the college community as the ‘Pot Doc,’ and when someone wanted a prescription for marijuana for recreational use, Rees was the doctor to see.” It further states “no examination would be conducted as long as $250 cash was provided” in her medical business.

When asked about the lawsuit claim, the doctor had “no comment because they’re just allegations.”

Additionally, according to the claim against the county, the Hurlbutt family is charging $3,005,000 in damages – $5,000 in “funeral and other burial expenses” and $3 million in “wrongful death.”

Assistant county counsel Rita Neal said the county has denied the claim.

“The county wouldn’t have control over it,” Neal said. “(We) suspect that this was an incident that couldn’t have been avoided.”

The lawsuit also states the following: “The City of San Luis Obispo, county of San Luis Obispo and Caltrans at all times had actual knowledge of the existence of the dangerous conditions of the subject roadway and knew, or should have known, of its dangerous character a sufficient period of time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous conditions.”

In an email statement, San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx said, “This is a very sad situation,” and that her “heart goes out to his family.”

The city attorneys for San Luis Obispo have been out of state for conferences and were not available to respond.

The Hurlbutt family will represent themselves.

The involved parties are set for a case management conference in Judge Charles Crandall’s courtroom of San Luis Obispo August 2 at 9 a.m.

Crandall also dealt with a wrongful death suit filed against Sigma Alpha Epsilon in regards to Cal Poly student Carson Starkey’s death.