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# Court dubious of lawsuit
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/court-dubious-of-lawsuit/
- Published: 2003-03-17T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:49:47.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

A woman who decided to take on the police and two insurance companies appeared to elicit little sympathy in small claims court Tuesday.

Gulseren Dogu pleaded with Commissioner Roberta Kyman to reverse police and insurance conclusions that her Honda smashed into another car after failing observe a stop sign.

Dogu sued Jakelin Lynn Flores for $5,000 over the December 2001 fender-bender, even though Dogu’s own insurance company had already paid Flores $6,000 for the damage to her car.

“I’ve been cheated,” said Dogu, whose Turkish tongue was translated in court by an interpreter. She claimed her case was based on Flores’ dishonesty.

Commissioner Kyman appeared dubious from the start.

“The police report said you were at fault. Your own insurance company said the same thing,” Kyman noted in wondering why Dogu had shown up in court as the plaintiff. “Your company has already paid her.”

Kyman didn’t rule Tuesday, but appeared skeptical both of Dogu’s claim for $2,600 in damages to her own car and the $2,400 she tacked on for the time she spent on the case, bringing the claim to the small claims limit of $5,000.

Near the end of the case, the defendant, Flores, exclaimed, “I don’t know why I’m here.”

“You’re here because you got sued,” replied Kyman.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 17, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)