The facts
Arnold Schwarzenegger, 79, is due in a Beverly Hills jury trial on Oct. 12 over a crash on Jan. 21, 2022, at Sunset Boulevard and Allenford Avenue in Brentwood. Plaintiff Cheryl Augustine sued him and his production company, Oak Productions Inc. A filing says he now admits he ran a red light in his SUV and caused the accident. He has conceded negligence. He disputes how badly she was hurt, and how much that is worth. The dollar demand has not been made public.
Augustine was in a Toyota Prius. He was in a GMC Yukon. Her lawyers say he turned left against a red arrow, fast enough that the Yukon lifted onto two wheels, and came down mostly on her car, plus a Porsche and another Toyota. That two-wheels account is her side's court papers, not a fact he has stipulated. Los Angeles police said at the time that paramedics took a woman to the hospital with a head abrasion.
Her attorneys say she lost consciousness and has permanent brain damage. They say a traumatic brain injury changed her personality, that she is more short-tempered, irritable, and unreasonable, and that her family relationships have gotten worse. Those are allegations. The Oct. 12 trial is about damages, not about whether he ran the light. It starts at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Edward B. Moreton Jr. in Department 205 of the Beverly Hills Courthouse. Schwarzenegger is expected to be the first witness.
The sideshow is the promotion. Augustine's lawyer, Gary A. Dordick, posted a mock movie ad. He is in a leather jacket and sunglasses, with a gun, over the words "I'll be back," plus a photo tied to the crash and the date, time, street address, and department number of Schwarzenegger's expected testimony. Schwarzenegger's lawyers told the judge the post hands that schedule to any of Instagram's users, five weeks out, from a person with no responsibility for who shows up. They want the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to handle his arrival, departure, and seating. They want no photography, video, or audio in the courtroom or the halls without the judge's written OK. They want whoever publicly promotes the trial, or a witness showing up, to pay for the extra security.
Augustine's side filed an opposition on Sept. 28. They call the bill an unconstitutional trial tax, a First Amendment problem, and a charge no statute actually allows. The judge had not ruled when the New York Post published on Sept. 30. The crash is still the case.
Our take
He already said he ran the light. Four years later the jury is being asked to put a price on it.
The crash is a left turn on a red arrow in a Yukon, into a Prius, with two other cars in the pile. Her lawyers say the truck went up on two wheels and that she has permanent brain damage. He says the injury bill is wrong. That is a normal Los Angeles damages case, except the defendant used to govern the state and used to play a killer robot, so the plaintiff's lawyer put on the jacket.
Leather, shades, a gun, "I'll be back," and the courthouse address. Then Arnold's side asked the court to hide the cameras, call the sheriff, and send the invoice to the woman who got hit. The post is tacky. The request to make her pay for the fame is tackier. A public trial date was already public. Dressing up as the defendant and dropping a pin does not make the red light any redder, and it does not make a head injury a movie.
Oct. 12 is not a premiere. He admitted the light. The jury is there to price the rest.
He already said he ran it. The lawyer just showed up in costume.
