Verdicts & Settlements December 21, 2009: Jury reduces award in
Missouri Lawyers Media, Dec 21, 2009 by Anna Vitale
A Platte County jury determined that a driver was not impaired from earlier marijuana use when he hit a man walking behind his truck. The man later died from his injuries.
The jury found the decedent partly at fault for the accident and ultimately awarded $396,399 to his widow.
On the morning of Aug. 27, 2008, John Wolff arrived at Glen’s Automotive in Parkville to pay for repairs to his vehicle. He parked in a posted no-parking zone and walked on a public sidewalk to the building.
At the same time, Factory Motor Parts employee Bradley Phillips was backing out of Glen’s driveway after making a delivery to the body shop. He was driving a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup with a camper shell. Philips’ brake and reverse lights were working as he backed onto the street perpendicular to the driveway.
Wolff was hit by Phillips’ vehicle and fell and hit his head. He died less than a day later from a subdural hematoma at North Kansas City Hospital.
The plaintiff tried to prove Phillips was intoxicated from marijuana at the time of the accident, that Factory Motor Parts was negligent in training Phillips and that the company failed to randomly drug test its employees. The plaintiff sought damages for Wolff’s disabled widow, whom the plaintiff claimed would need future life-care costs in addition to statutory pecuniary losses.
At trial, the plaintiff claimed that Phillips was intoxicated at the time of the accident from marijuana he’d smoked the night before. Blood samples initially requested by the Parkville Police Department and taken the night of the accident were analyzed for psychoactive compounds. No psychoactive compounds were found, and defense expert Paul Cary testified that Phillips could not have been impaired at the time of the accident. Additionally, the investigating officer testified that he did not observe any indications that Phillips was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
The plaintiff claimed that Factory Motor Parts was negligent in training Phillips. Plaintiff attorney Eric Bartlett said Phillips’ job training consisted of a couple weeks of shadowing another driver and wasn’t extensive enough.
Plaintiff expert Howard Harris testified that, under industry standards, a delivery person should never be in a position where he or she must back up. He also testified, however, that no federal or state laws require defensive driving for a driver with a non- commercial license, which Phillips had.
Bartlett said that where Phillips was required to park also required him to back into a busy street.
“It put him at a terrible position,” he said.
Bartlett also said that there was evidence that Phillips backed up erratically, ending up on the sidewalk across the street.
Defense expert Whitney Morgan said that backing up is allowed for smaller vehicles and that there are no federal or state training requirements for delivery drivers.
The plaintiff also claimed that Factory Motor Parts should have conducted random drug tests of its employees. Phillips said he would not have smoked marijuana if he knew he would be randomly tested for drug use. But defense expert Cary said there was no industry standard on drug tests for companies that operate delivery vehicles.
The defense called two experts to rebut the plaintiff’s experts’ estimates about future care for Wolff’s wife, saying they were excessive in the hours of care she would need and the size of apartment she would require. Economist Gerald Miller also said that wrongful death damages should consist of either statutory pecuniary loss or future life care costs – not both.
The plaintiff asked for $5 million and for aggravating circumstances damages to be awarded against both defendants in closing arguments.
The jury declined to award for aggravating circumstances and delivered a total award of $566,285. They found the plaintiff 30 percent at fault.
“What made this case different than simply a traffic accident is the fact that we had the element of marijuana, and that was a wild card,” said defense attorney Terry Evans.
Evans said that voir dire cleared the jury of people who believed that marijuana usage automatically implied impairment. “In my opinion, the point that was made in this case is that you can defend marijuana usage in a situation where the driver smoked marijuana the day before the accident.”
Bartlett said he would try the case exactly the same if he had to do it over again.
“My gut feeling is that nine times out of 10 a jury is going to do things differently. They’re going to look at that entire situation and say, ‘My goodness, we’ve got to take care of this lady and compensate her for the loss of her husband.’”
$566,285 jury verdict
Motor vehicle collision/wrongful death
Court: Platte County Circuit Court
Case Number/Date: 08AE-CV03430/Oct. 28, 2009
Judge: Abe Shafer
Plaintiff’s Experts: John O. Ward, Prairie Village, Kan. (economics); Sheryl Bunce, Lenexa, Kan. (life care planner); Ron Smock, Albuquerque, N.M. (toxicology); Howard Harris, Greenville, Ill. (trucking)
Defendants’ Experts: Dr. Robert J. Boulware, Liberty (internal medicine); Gerald L. Miller, Kansas City (economics); Kathie Allison, Kansas City (life care planning); Paul A. Cary, Columbia (toxicology); Whitney G. Morgan, Birmingham, Ala truck camper shells
Verdicts & Settlements December 21, 2009: Jury reduces award in
Missouri Lawyers Media, Dec 21, 2009 by Anna Vitale
A Platte County jury determined that a driver was not impaired from earlier marijuana use when he hit a man walking behind his truck. The man later died from his injuries.
The jury found the decedent partly at fault for the accident and ultimately awarded $396,399 to his widow.
On the morning of Aug. 27, 2008, John Wolff arrived at Glen’s Automotive in Parkville to pay for repairs to his vehicle. He parked in a posted no-parking zone and walked on a public sidewalk to the building.
At the same time, Factory Motor Parts employee Bradley Phillips was backing out of Glen’s driveway after making a delivery to the body shop. He was driving a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup with a camper shell. Philips’ brake and reverse lights were working as he backed onto the street perpendicular to the driveway.
Wolff was hit by Phillips’ vehicle and fell and hit his head. He died less than a day later from a subdural hematoma at North Kansas City Hospital.
The plaintiff tried to prove Phillips was intoxicated from marijuana at the time of the accident, that Factory Motor Parts was negligent in training Phillips and that the company failed to randomly drug test its employees. The plaintiff sought damages for Wolff’s disabled widow, whom the plaintiff claimed would need future life-care costs in addition to statutory pecuniary losses.
At trial, the plaintiff claimed that Phillips was intoxicated at the time of the accident from marijuana he’d smoked the night before. Blood samples initially requested by the Parkville Police Department and taken the night of the accident were analyzed for psychoactive compounds. No psychoactive compounds were found, and defense expert Paul Cary testified that Phillips could not have been impaired at the time of the accident. Additionally, the investigating officer testified that he did not observe any indications that Phillips was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
The plaintiff claimed that Factory Motor Parts was negligent in training Phillips. Plaintiff attorney Eric Bartlett said Phillips’ job training consisted of a couple weeks of shadowing another driver and wasn’t extensive enough.
Plaintiff expert Howard Harris testified that, under industry standards, a delivery person should never be in a position where he or she must back up. He also testified, however, that no federal or state laws require defensive driving for a driver with a non- commercial license, which Phillips had.
Bartlett said that where Phillips was required to park also required him to back into a busy street.
“It put him at a terrible position,” he said.
Bartlett also said that there was evidence that Phillips backed up erratically, ending up on the sidewalk across the street.
Defense expert Whitney Morgan said that backing up is allowed for smaller vehicles and that there are no federal or state training requirements for delivery drivers.
The plaintiff also claimed that Factory Motor Parts should have conducted random drug tests of its employees. Phillips said he would not have smoked marijuana if he knew he would be randomly tested for drug use. But defense expert Cary said there was no industry standard on drug tests for companies that operate delivery vehicles.
The defense called two experts to rebut the plaintiff’s experts’ estimates about future care for Wolff’s wife, saying they were excessive in the hours of care she would need and the size of apartment she would require. Economist Gerald Miller also said that wrongful death damages should consist of either statutory pecuniary loss or future life care costs – not both.
The plaintiff asked for $5 million and for aggravating circumstances damages to be awarded against both defendants in closing arguments.
The jury declined to award for aggravating circumstances and delivered a total award of $566,285. They found the plaintiff 30 percent at fault.
“What made this case different than simply a traffic accident is the fact that we had the element of marijuana, and that was a wild card,” said defense attorney Terry Evans.
Evans said that voir dire cleared the jury of people who believed that marijuana usage automatically implied impairment. “In my opinion, the point that was made in this case is that you can defend marijuana usage in a situation where the driver smoked marijuana the day before the accident.”
Bartlett said he would try the case exactly the same if he had to do it over again.
“My gut feeling is that nine times out of 10 a jury is going to do things differently. They’re going to look at that entire situation and say, ‘My goodness, we’ve got to take care of this lady and compensate her for the loss of her husband.’”
$566,285 jury verdict
Motor vehicle collision/wrongful death
Court: Platte County Circuit Court
Case Number/Date: 08AE-CV03430/Oct. 28, 2009
Judge: Abe Shafer
Plaintiff’s Experts: John O. Ward, Prairie Village, Kan. (economics); Sheryl Bunce, Lenexa, Kan. (life care planner); Ron Smock, Albuquerque, N.M. (toxicology); Howard Harris, Greenville, Ill. (trucking)
Defendants’ Experts: Dr. Robert J. Boulware, Liberty (internal medicine); Gerald L. Miller, Kansas City (economics); Kathie Allison, Kansas City (life care planning); Paul A. Cary, Columbia (toxicology); Whitney G. Morgan, Birmingham, Ala
truck camper shells