Pennsylvania Worker recovers for fall from ladder bought at Home Depot

$2 Million Verdict for Foreman Injured by Pipe Plug

Top Ten Jury Verdicts of 2007 are 25% lower than 2006

Federal Court Jury Awards 6.2 Million Dollars in TASER-Related Death

From PRWeb.com:

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) June 8, 2008 -- A Federal Jury returned a verdict late Friday afternoon in the amount of $6,221,000.00 against TASER International Inc., for the wrongful death of a 40-year-old Salinas, California, man, who died following repeated shocks from three TASER electronic control devices ("ECDs").
    
The jury of five women and two men found that TASER International knew or should have known that its M26 model ECD was dangerous because prolonged exposures to the device pose a substantial risk of cardiac arrest to persons against whom the device is deployed. The jury also found that TASER International failed to adequately warn purchasers of its device of the risks associated with its use. It awarded the parents of Robert Heston $1,000,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000.00 in punitive damages. The jury also awarded Heston's estate $21,000.00 in compensatory damages and another $200,000.00 in punitive damages. However, it also found Robert Heston 85% comparatively negligent for the incident which ultimately resulted in his death. Only the compensatory damage award will be reduced by his percentage of comparative negligence.
    
On February 19, 2005, Robert C. Heston began acting erratically inside his family's Salinas, California home. Believing his son might be under the influence of drugs, Heston's father called the police reporting his son's bizarre behavior and asked them for help in removing his son from the home. Officers from the Salinas Police Department responded to the Heston home and confronted Mr. Heston. Three police officers used their TASER ECDs repeatedly subjecting Mr. Heston to nearly 75 seconds of continuous TASER discharges as other officers attempted to handcuff Heston on the living room floor. While being subjected to the TASER discharges, Heston suffered a cardiac arrest causing irreversible brain damage. He was removed from life support the following day and died shortly thereafter.
    
In their lawsuit, Heston v. City of Salinas, et al., N.D. Cal. Case No. C 05-03658 JW, Heston's parents alleged that TASER ECDs are unreasonably dangerous and defective for use on human beings because they are sold without adequate testing and without sufficient warning about the effect of multiple shocks for extended durations, particularly on people who are under the influence of drugs. They further claimed that the weapon, when used repeatedly, causes cardiac arrests and unnecessary deaths.

N.J. and Texas Courts Scrap Awards From Early Vioxx Cases

From Law.com:

Appeals courts in New Jersey and Texas on Thursday scrapped verdicts against drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. stemming from some of the earliest trials involving its once popular painkiller Vioxx.

A Texas court reversed a $26 million verdict against the drug maker stemming from the first trial. The court found no evidence that Robert Ernst suffered a fatal heart problem from a blood clot triggered by Vioxx. He had been taking the now-withdrawn drug for eight months before being stricken in May 2001.

His widow had won a $253 million verdict against New Jersey-based Merck in 2005, but Texas punitive damage caps later cut that to about $26 million.

Also Thursday, a New Jersey appeals court voided $9 million of the $13.9 million awarded to John McDarby in 2006 by a jury in Atlantic City.

The panel found that New Jersey's Product Liability Act was pre-empted by the federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. McDarby survived his 2004 heart attack.

Jury Awards $20.5 Million for Fatal Liposuction

From Law.com:

A Philadelphia jury awarded a $20.5 million verdict Friday to the parents of an 18-year-old college student who allegedly died from a liposuction procedure gone wrong.

Of the $20.5 million award, $15 million was in punitive damages.

The jury returned the verdict seven years to the day of the elective liposuction for Amy Fledderman, 18, sought for her chin, abdomen and flanks with plastic surgeon Dr. Richard P. Glunk on May 23, 2001, according to court papers.

Amy Fledderman's parents, Daniel H. and Colleen M. Fledderman, sobbed as the 12-member jury returned a unanimous verdict against Glunk and nurse anesthetist Edward DeStefano late Friday morning.

In the Fledderman v. Glunk wrongful death and survival action, the jury awarded $15 million in punitive damages; $3.5 million under the Survival Act; $2 million for Glunk allegedly negligently inflicting emotional distress on Colleen Fledderman; $20,000 under the Wrongful Death Act; and $5,000 for Glunk's alleged failure to obtain Amy Fledderman's informed consent.

Plaintiffs attorney Slade H. McLaughlin of The Beasley Firm said in an e-mail that the $15 million in punitive damages and $5.525 million in compensatory damages is within the 9-to-1 punitive damages cap ratio required by the U.S Supreme Court decision in Campbell v. State Farm. He also noted that the wrongful death damages are almost exactly equal to Fledderman's funeral costs, and the informed-consent damages were the costs of her surgery.

Drunken man paralyzed after fall down stairs gets $17M

Former pro football player gets $1.1M for fall in store

Family of resident who died from sepsis awarded $2M

Hotel guest injured when chair broke awarded $550,000

A jury awarded $550,000 to a man who injured his back and shoulder when he fell from a broken chair at a motel. John Karetas, a conductor with Norfolk Southern Inc., was staying at the McIntosh Inn in Allentown when the back of his chair broke, causing him to twist his back and fall on his shoulder. He sued the inn and his employer because he had taken a freight train from Harrisburg to Allentown, which required him to stay in the motel overnight. His lawyer argued that the back portion of the chair wasn't properly attached to the base. The jury found tMcIntosh Inn 70 percent liable and Norfolk Southern 30 liable.

Karetas v. Norfolk Southern Corp.

To see the full report, go to VerdictSearch.com

Pa. Church Volunteer Who Lost Leg in Accident Awarded $4 Million

From InsuranceJournal.com:

A jury has awarded more than $4 million to a man who lost a leg in an accident while doing volunteer work at his Northampton County church.

Jay Benfield was installing telephone wires at St. John's United Church of Christ in Nazareth when a stack of drywall fell on him on Dec. 26, 2000. He was trapped overnight until workers found him the next day.

His left leg had to be amputated.

The jury deliberated about six hours last Thursday and Friday before announcing the verdict.

Jurors found that one contractor was 70 percent responsible for the accident, another contractor was 20 percent responsible and that Benfield was 10 percent responsible.

***The following is a statement from one of the plaintiff's attorneys, Mark K. Altemose, Esquire, of COHEN & FEELEY of Bethlehem, Pa.:

"My partner, Kelly Rambo, and I would like to thank all of you who expressed congratulations to us on our verdict. It means a great deal to both of us. We truly believe that justice prevailed in the case. Our client is a good man who was willing, from the very beginning--as I told the jury in my opening statement and again in closing--, to accept some responsibility for the accident. The Defendant Construction Manager was being completely unreasonable in denying any liability. The Specifications for the project incorporated a manufacturers' standard that required that drywall be stacked flat. Our experts testified that the purpose of the standard was to prevent this exact type of accident. Nevertheless, the Defendant maintained that stacking it on edge was still safe and that our client was the sole cause of the accident. Fortunately, the jury agreed with our position. Furthermore, the damages awarded were fair and reasonable by any standard of measurement. The jury and our client really deserve the credit.

Hopefully, the Defendant and other contractors who insist on stacking drywall on edge on construction sites will learn from this case so that no other person will endure the needless suffering that our client and his family have endured since this accident and will endure for the remainder of their lives. If so, then this case will be a victory not only for our client, but for PAAJ and all organizations with a similar mission to protect the public at large from needless harm.

City hit with $3.8M verdict for woman's pothole fall

Driver awarded for neck injuries in low speed rear-end accident

Federal Verdict Against GM in Rollover Lawsuit

Garland Reynolds and his wife, Bonnie, were awarded $3.5 million in connection with the 2002 rollover accident that claimed the life of their son, Matthew. The Reynolds sued GM in 2006, alleging that the design of the 1995 Chevrolet Blazer created stability issues that contributed to the fatal wreck. The jury awarded no punitive damages.

A jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly three days in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, GA before finding GM at fault.

The jury said to General Motors that the Blazer is unsafe and it should not have been designed without proper stability, attorney for the plaintiff said.

On June 3, 2002, Bonnie Reynolds was driving a 1995 Chevy Blazer on the Interstate with her son in the front seat when the Blazer was struck by a drunk driver who lost control of his Pontiac Sunbird.

The Blazer flipped several times and Matthew Reynolds was ejected. He died the following day in an area hospital.

The driver who struck the Reynolds' car was later convicted of first-degree vehicular homicide and is serving a lengthy prison sentence.

Plaintiffs presented evidence at trial of other rollover accidents involving the Blazer. The plaintiffs contended that the make and model was built with too high a center of gravity for the wheel base, and that the "track," or distance between the wheels, should have been widened to prevent stability problems.

Blazers manufactured from 1995 through 2002 have similar design flaws. The Blazer was subsequently phased out in favor of the TrailBlazer, which has a wider wheelbase. 

Evidence presented at trial called for a recall.

General Motors maintains that the vehicle is safe.

Company spokeswoman Geri Lama said GM was disappointed in the jury's verdict. They contend that the rollover accident is the sole fault of the drunk driver who struck the Blazer. GM is considering its options of an appeal.There was never an offer to settle, according to Plaintiffs attorneys.

GM was represented by a team of King & Spalding attorneys led by partner W. Ray Persons,

The case, in the Northern District of Georgia, is Garland Reynolds Jr. et al., v. General Motors Corp., No. 2:04-CV-106.

Woman awarded $345k for injuries in rear-end automobile accident

Teen injured in near-fatal crash gets $14.8M

School liable for teen's car crash after going to drinking party

Tractor-trailer rear-ender results in punitive damages award

A driver was awarded $275,000 for several disc injuries he sustained when his coupe was rear-ened by a tractor-trailer. Thomas J. Ferranti sued Willie Lee Rowell Jr., who was driving for Martin Trucking. He claimed Rowell failed to keep a proper lookout. Ferranti sustained herniations in his neck and back. The jury found that Rowell showed reckless indifference to the interest of others. Of the award, $100,000 was for punitive damages against Rowell. Martin Trucking was not found vicariously liable for punitive damages.

Ferranti v. Martin Trucking, LLC

To see the full report on this case go to VerdictSearch.com

Family awarded $5.1 for man killed by drunk driver at work site

A jury awarded $5.1 million to the family of a man who was struck and killed by a drunk driver while working at a road construction site. Donald Lee Fincher Jr. hit Frank Claborn as he was providing security for a construction company that was renovating the West Sam Houston Toll Road. His counsel argued that Fincher was nearly three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit. The family claimed that Claborn was conscious and in pain for about an hour before he died. Fincher stipulated to liability. He offered a consent judgment, but Claborn's wife wouldn't make a counter offer and wouldn't consider a settlement without a trial.

Claborn v. Fincher

Jury awards boy for hand degloving in crash

Buonaiuto v. Stroud