By DAVE DANFORTH Daily Press Staff Writer
Louis Lussky and Brian Griffiths share adjacent boat slips in Marina Del Rey.
Lussky, who owns a 25-foot sloop with a 10-foot dinghy tied to the stern, has sued Griffiths for allegedly backing his powerboat over Lussky’s dinghy, tearing it so badly it was totaled.
Though the dinghy is nine years old, Lussky’s asking for $1,000 to cover its replacement cost. He testifies there is no “blue book” for such boats, but he could find a new one similar to his for about $1,100.
Lussky admits he was below the deck on his boat, in its slip, and didn’t actually see the mishap. But he claims to be familiar enough with the sounds of the marina to have heard Griffiths start his boat and begin backing out of his slip.
Griffiths claims he never backed over the dinghy. He says that the weather on the day of the accident, last Oct. 29, was clear and there were many boats moving along the “fairway,” or waterway between boats. He further notes that the line by which Lussky’s boat is attached is eight feet long, allowing the dinghy to swing into the “fairway.”
“I did not do it and I’d be happy to let him know it,” Griffiths said in court. “Any boat could have done it that day.”
Lussky responded that although nobody actually saw the accident, the evidence is convincing. He claims the only way his dinghy could have been mangled was if it was sucked into a propellor. A boat in reverse would do that sort of damage, Lussky argued. He urged the judge to come to the “only reasonable inference” that Griffiths’ boat had to have backed over the dinghy. He compares the circumstances to someone who awakens to see snow all over his backyard in the morning. Although nobody saw it snow, it’s more reasonable to infer that it did than to guess that the snow was trucked in.
You be the judge. Who won and what were the damages if any?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 9, 2003. Read the original PDF.