$11 Million Settlement After Portsmouth Police Chase Kills Husband, Leaves Wife With Brain Injury
Won by Breit Biniazan.
The City of Portsmouth paid its full $11 million insurance policy after a police pursuit through downtown traffic ended in a crash that killed Calvin Majette III and left his wife Temika Pleas with a permanent traumatic brain injury.
What happened
On the evening of March 13, 2021, Calvin Majette III and his wife Temika Pleas were driving home from the grocery store along Portsmouth Boulevard near California Avenue in Portsmouth, Virginia. A Portsmouth police officer had initiated a high-speed pursuit of Ciara Elliott, who was wanted on prior charges. That chase pushed through a heavily trafficked stretch of downtown Portsmouth. Elliott ran a red light and slammed into the couple's Chrysler 200. The impact killed Majette instantly and sent Pleas to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Pleas spent roughly two weeks in the hospital. Her injuries were extensive: a traumatic brain injury, a ruptured spleen, multiple fractured and broken bones, orbital fractures around her face, and internal injuries that required multiple surgeries. She was later hospitalized again for a mental health crisis stemming from the trauma. Physicians determined she could not return to work. The couple had three children who depended on both parents.
Jeffrey Breit, Kevin Biniazan, and Don Scott -- then a Virginia state delegate -- took the case on behalf of Pleas and the Majette family. The legal team argued that the pursuing officer violated established principles of proper police conduct by sustaining a high-speed chase through a congested area near downtown. Their position was that Elliott posed no immediate threat to the public until the chase itself created the danger that killed Majette and disabled Pleas.
The case settled on February 15, 2022, without a lawsuit ever being filed. Portsmouth agreed to pay $11 million, the full limit of the city's insurance policy. Special damages documented at settlement included $357,172 in medical expenses and $964,251 in lost wages. The funds were structured into trust accounts to cover Pleas's ongoing medical care and to provide for her and Majette's three children.
Biniazan noted at the time: 'While there will never be sufficient funds to replace a life, we hope this will provide some comfort and security.'
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Virginia Lawyers Weekly, standalone staffed article: 'Man killed in collision caused by high-speed police chase -- $11M settlement' (April 2022; names Breit, Biniazan, and Scott; documents special damages and settlement date)
- 2.WTKR CBS 3 News: '$11 million settlement reached for 2021 fatal crash during Portsmouth police chase' (March 2022; confirms attorney names, injuries, and full-policy-limits settlement)
- 3.WAVY TV 10: 'Portsmouth settles for $11M after police pursuit led to crash that killed man, disabled woman' (March 2022; confirms crash details, injuries, and settlement amount)
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