$1.1 Million Bench Verdict in Hinds County Tear Gas Death Case
Last week Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd issued a bench trial ruling that resulted in a $1.1 million verdict against a manufacturer of tear gas. Here is the Clarion-Ledger article on the verdict.
Facts:
In 2006 Jackson police officers used tear gas to flush out three teen-age car thieves who broke into Linda White's home. I guess Barney and the other deputies got their men. But then:
White and family members entered the home later that night and began coughing and tearing up from the residual effects of the chemicals released in the house, her family said.
Less than two weeks later, White, 42, was dead.
Lewis, executor of White's estate, testified at trial that the smell of the tear gas was strong in the house a day after the raid.
White went back to the house three or four times for brief visits to try to clean it or to retrieve clothing, according to the lawsuit.
After her last visit, White went to the hospital, complaining of breathing difficulties. She died in the hospital May 8, 2006.
White died of respiratory failure secondary to the acute respiratory distress, according to an autopsy. The autopsy report cited double exposure to chloroacetophenone, an active chemical in tear gas, and capsaic in fumes, the pungent ingredient in pepper spray, as contributing causes to her respiratory failure, according to the lawsuit.
A wrongful death case ensued.
Judge Kidd's Ruling:
Judge Kidd found the police 50% at fault and the tear gas manufacturer 50% at fault. The basis for the claim against the tear gas manufacturer appeared to be failure to warn and breach of warranty. Total damages were $2.2 million. But with the City 50% at fault, the tear gas manufacturer (Combined Systems) owes $1.1 million. The City settled before trial.
Chris Graves of Jackson represented the plaintiff. David Curtis of New Orleans represented the defendant.
My Take:
This is an example of why Barney had to keep his bullet in his shirt pocket on The Andy Griffith Show. Bad things can happen when you give weapons to some idiots policemen.
The cops used tear gas in a private home and then sent the residents back in and left? Those cops were the kind of guys who use the light of a match to see if the gas tank is empty.
Hard to believe the City settled. They rarely want to pay even after a judgment is entered.
Another thing.....where was the jury? I would hate to be an associate and have to explain that one to the partner in charge of the case. I would also hate to be the partner that has to explain it to the client.
According to the news article:
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New Orleans attorney David Curtis, who defended Combined Systems during the trial, said Friday he couldn't comment. Curtis said another attorney, Bruce Cranner, is now representing Combined.
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Why would a wrongful death plaintiff waive a jury trial?
Under the Tort Claims Act, you don't get a jury. That's quite a victory for Chris Graves. He has a rather limited attention span.
I don't see why they couldn't empanel a jury for the private defendant. Is that never done in MTCA cases with public and private co-defendants?
OTOH, "Hinds County jury" vs. "Kidd bench trial" ... hm ... sort of like choosing between hanging and firing squad. I can see flipping a coin and taking the bench trial.
OTOH, "Hinds County jury" vs. "Kidd bench trial" ... hm ... sort of like choosing between hanging and firing squad. I can see flipping a coin and taking the bench trial.
--That might be a mistake. Defense verdicts in jury trials in Judge Kidd's court are not that rare. I got one representing a named insurance company a few years ago. There have been others in med-mal cases.
Interesting. What about defense verdicts in Kidd bench trials?
Possibly the real calculation went to damages; it seems reasonable to anticipate that a bench trial would be less likely to issue a runaway verdict. For a W/D case like this, $1.1M is not a crazy verdict.
I had a case before Judge Landrum a couple of years ago where I represented a corporate defendant, and my co-defendant was a municipality. The issue of bench vs. jury trial was addressed by Landrum at the City's summary judgment hearing. My client wanted a jury trial rather than leave the matter in the judge's hands; of course, the City was entitled to a bench trial. Basically, Landrum instructed during the hearing that his intentions would be to bifurcate the trial of the matter, first issuing a ruling from the bench as to the claim against the City, and next for a jury to decide the case against my client. All of the attorneys involved struggled to see how that could work, for obvious reasons. We never got that far, though, because the City won its MSJ. I can't imagine that sort of setup having been anything but a circus, though, especially since the defendants were only aligned as to damages and not as to liability. Not sure if that trial formula was just something that Landrum came up with on his own or whether it's normal course and practice in courts statewide.
Andy Griffith not Andy Griffin, but the analogy is appropriate.