Last week I reported a hung jury in a Jones County Ford Motor Co. trial. The case was actually tried in the Paulding district of Jasper County. Jones County Circuit Judge Billy Joe Landrum presided over the trial because Judge Robert Evans recused himself from the case.

This was the second trial for this case. The first trial was in 2004 and resulted in a mistrial for one of the two plaintiffs and a hung jury for the other.

The basis for the case was the 2001 Ford Explorer accident that resulted in the death of professional baseball prospect Brian Cole of Meridian. Here is a New York Times article about Cole following the accident. Cole was considered the New York Mets’ third best major league prospect at the time of the accident and played for the club’s double-A minor league affiliate.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff based Cole’s lost wages on the assumption that Cole would have been a regular all-star in the majors—a questionable assumption based on Cole’s minor league statistics. The plaintiffs asked for $140 million in damages.

The case was originally tried in 2004 for three weeks with Judge Evans presiding. Plaintiff lawyers included Wayne Ferrell, Jim Nobles and Texas lawyers.

For the 2010 re-trial, plaintiffs added Tab Turner to the attorney roster. Both sides had many attorneys in the courtroom. The second trial lasted two weeks and resulted in a hung jury for both of the two plaintiffs.

Barry Ford and other Baker Donelson lawyers were involved in both trials on the defense side. Ford typically also brings in out-of-state lawyers to try cases in Mississippi.

It would not be surprising to see this case tried for a third time. The plaintiffs probably have expenses in the case in the six-figure range, which will make settlement difficult. In addition, Ford is not afraid to try cases in tough jurisdictions like Paulding.