TRABUCO CANYON : Parents’ Suit Against Builder Goes to Jury

Jury deliberations began Friday in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit charging that shoddy construction by an “out-of-control” development company triggered a 1988 accident that left a Trabuco Canyon girl with permanent brain damage.

John and Patti Bretza alleged in Orange County Superior Court that leaky plumbing at their new home built by the William Lyon Co. of Newport Beach caused their daughter Kristina, then 10, to fall and hit her head.

In closing arguments this week, attorney Doug Mahaffey said leaking water loosened ceiling plaster that fell and struck Kristina in the face. She had been playing in a bathtub beneath dripping water that had leaked from the upstairs bathroom.

Mahaffey said that William Lyon Co.’s “out-of-control” approach toward turning a profit contributed in part to the accident. He also spoke derisively of the “quality homes” depicted in the company’s brochures.

The family is seeking to recover $3.9 million in damages, including medical expenses and earnings Kristina would have made had she not been injured, court documents said. The suit also named as a defendant Leaverton Brothers Inc. of Irvine, which installed the plumbing.

Court records state that the girl now suffers from severe headaches and impairments in intellectual abilities that have seriously hampered her performance in school. She is now in special-education classes, according to the lawsuit.

Defense attorney James Stone, who represents the William Lyon Co., told the jury that the Bretzas were engaging in the “Southern California pastime of litigation.” They have not proved the company was at fault, he said in his closing argument.

Leaverton Brothers attorney Frank Nunes said the Bretza family was to blame because Kristina was playing barefoot in a slick tub after she had been warned not to. He argued that the family had not made the bathroom off-limits when they saw there was a problem with the ceiling.

Mahaffey countered, saying the Bretzas were blameless because a 10-year-old could not understand the inherent danger she faced and the parents had no reason to believe that the ceiling in a 10-week-old house would collapse.

“Did Kristy make the ceiling leak and fall on her, or did the Leaverton Brothers?” he asked.