$1.5 million verdict; $900,000 after allocation of fault
A federal jury awarded $900,000 to the spouse of a truck driver killed near Jefferson City, Mo., after witnesses testified about the difficulty of seeing the slow vehicle that apparently caused the 2002 crash.
The jury awarded $1.5 million and allocated 60 percent fault for the crash to the defendants and 40 percent to the plaintiff.
It was seven minutes before dawn on Dec. 12 when Troy Derley, 28, drove his tractor-trailer eastbound over the crest of a hill on U.S. Highway 50, east of Shamrock Road. Approximately 1,500 feet later he slammed his rig into the rear of a slow-moving mobile crane that was pulling a Ford F-150 pickup truck. Derley was killed on impact.
The towing vehicle was owned by Scott's Crane Rental and was driven by Dennis Hodges.
A Missouri Highway Patrol reconstruction team investigated the scene and estimated that Derley was traveling at around 62 miles per hour in a designated 65 mile-per-hour zone and Hodges was traveling between 10 and 25 miles per hour at the time of the crash.
"The interesting thing about this case is that there were no eyewitnesses to the event itself. No one actually saw the collision," said plaintiff's lawyer Joseph Cambiano.
Cambiano and Roth agreed that not having an actual eyewitness made the case more challenging. Both said that a large number of people did come forward who testified they had seen the slow-moving crane prior to the crash. According to Cambiano, many said they had trouble seeing the crane as it pulled the pickup, but had been able to avoid it.
"The tough part of the case for us was that there was a succession of witnesses that came into the courtroom who testified that they recalled that they had trouble seeing the defendant's vehicle," said defense lawyer Ronald Roth.
The primary dispute was whether the pickup in tow had been adequately equipped with warning lights. Cambiano argued in court that pre-dawn conditions made it difficult for drivers to see a vehicle that did not have clearance or brake lights. Roth insisted that his client had the vehicle lit, but confirmed that there was question as to if the lighting was adequate for the conditions.
The defense argued that the presence of a third driver should have provided Derley with adequate warning that there was a potential hazard ahead. The third driver had been between the tractor trailer and mobile crane and applied the brakes before swerving off the road. 
Roth said special damages said by Cambiano to total $1.45 million had been estimated during testimony of economist John Ward to range between $1.8 million and $2.1 million.
Roth also said that the composition of the jury, comprising six women and one man, most likely played in the plaintiff's favor. "That is challenging. I am quite certain that there was a lot of emotion involved, but that is one of those things that happens."
Cambiano said that given the circumstances of the case it was not easy to say exactly what happened at the scene. "But there was a large number of people who were at the site either a little before or within several miles of the incident. They had come into contact with the mobile crane and were critical in establishing that is was moving slowly and had a lack of warning lights."
Facts of the Case
Type of Action: Motor vehicle collision
Type of Injuries: Wrongful death
Court/Case Number/Date: U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri/03-4136-CV-C-WAK/April 23, 2006
Caption: Johnna Derley v. Scott's Crane Rental Inc. and Dennis Hodges
Judge, Jury or ADR: Jury
Name of Judge: William Knox
Verdict or Settlement: $1.5 million
Special Damages: $1.2 million past and future lost wages, $250,000 loss of services
Allocation of Fault: Decedent Troy Derley 40 percent, defendants 60 percent.
Last Demand: $1.5 million 
Last Offer: $400,000
Attorneys for Plaintiff: Joseph A. Cambiano, Lisa R. McWilliams, Thomas Bryant, Rubins, Kase, Hager, Cambiano & Bryant, Kansas City, Mo.
Attorneys for Defense: Ronald A. Roth and Peter Balsi (for Hodges), Roth & Evans, Granite City, Ill.; Rudy Veit (for Scott's Crane Rental), Carson & Coil PC, Jefferson City, Mo.
Insurance Carrier: Westchester Insurance Co.
Plaintiff's Experts: Stan Oglesby (accident reconstructionist) Concordia, Mo.; William Kennedy (forensic engineer) Wichita, Kan.; Gerson Alexander (human factors) Philadelphia; William Hampton (accident reconstructionist) Cape Girardeau, Mo.; John Ward (economist) Prairie Village, Kan.
Defendants' Experts: Ron Blevins (accident reconstructionist) Oklahoma City; Gary Stevens (accident reconstructionist) Jacksonville, Fla.
Lawyers Weekly, Inc., 41 West Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, (800) 444-5297
© 2006 Lawyers Weekly Inc., All Rights Reserved.
|
July 31, 2006
