Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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Facts

In July 2007 8 and 9 year old children were left in a room at the La Quinta Inn on Briarwood Drive in North Jackson while their father took their mother to work. It was approximately 7:00 a.m. The parents threatened the children to not go near the pool.

The girl fell into the pool and pulled the boy in while he was trying to pull her out. I am assuming that they could not swim, but don't know. The kids screamed and guests called the front desk. Hotel employees pulled the children from the pool and revived them.

The hotel had another near drowning incident in 2005 when the gate was not locked during non-use hours. The gate to the pool was supposed to be locked from 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. The gate was left open and not locked on a regular basis.

The girl was in ICU at UMC for a month. The boy was in ICU for 8 days. The children had approx. $130,000 in medical bills. 

The Trial

The case was styled Baby Jane Doe, et al v. La Quinta Franchising, LLC, et al; In the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi; Cause No. 08-495-CIV. The case was tried before Judge Winston Kidd and lasted eight days.

Ashley Ogden was plaintiffs' counsel.

Defense counsel were Ray McNamara and Monte Barton with Copeland Cook in Ridgeland and Charlene Priester of Jackson. Copeland Cook likely associated Priester on the case because she is African-American. McNamara took most of the witnesses for the defense and Priester closed for the defense. I understand that she did a really good job in her closing.  

At trial former and current hotel employees testified that the hotel policy to close and lock the pool gate was frequently violated because the front desk clerks would lock themselves in the office at night due to crime on the property and their fear for their own safety. Former employees testified that the gate did not self-close as it was supposed to, and that during the summer neighborhood kids were constantly coming onto the property to swim in the pool.  Employees testified management instructed the employees to watch out for children and keep the pool gate closed and locked from 10 pm to 9 am to prevent any children from getting in the pool. The assistant manager testified there was a camera on the pool gate and there was a video of the incident. The video was lost or destroyed by the manager. The manager and a former employee testified they were falsifying safety documents and not complying with the hotel rules regarding the pool gate being locked and closed. The manager admitted he did not comply with the hotel policy to be CPR certified.

The father testified that he was primarily at fault, but that he expected the hotel to keep the pool gate closed and locked at that time of day.

Plaintiffs' experts testified that the children had some mild cognitive issues caused by the drowning. Plaintiff introduced a $13 million life care plan for each child and asked for over $26 million in damages.

Some doctors opined that the children suffered no permanent damage. Doctors at UMC performed and IME and testified that the children had the same issues before the incident as after. The kids are both in school seem ok.

The Verdict

At trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Plaintiffs and found the Defendants to be 85% liable and the Plaintiffs’ parents 15% liable.  The jury awarded the girl $3,868,525.46 in total damages, the boy $1,645,852.67 in damages, and the father $100,000.00 in damages, for a total of $5,614,378.13.

Here is the breakdown of the verdict:

a.      Plaintiff Baby Jane Doe

1)     $93,525.46  for past medical expenses

2)     $3,500,000.00 for future medical expenses

3)     $75,000.00  for pain and suffering

4)     $200,000.00 for lost wages

TOTAL:          $3,868,525.46

b.     Plaintiff Baby John Doe

1)     $45,852.67  for past medical expenses

2)     $1,500,000.00 for future medical expenses

3)     $25,000.00 for pain and suffering

4)     $75,000.00 for future lost wages

TOTAL:          $1,645,852.67

 The verdict will be reduced by 15% to factor in  the father's apportioned fault. That will reduce the verdict to $4,772,221.41. 

My Take

It was a dangerous case and the defendant probably offered a significant sum to settle before the trial. Ogden is rumored to be rejecting significant settlement offers in the cases that he is taking to trial.

It was a large verdict, but not unreasonable if the jury accepted plaintiff's expert testimony on damages. A lot of people will criticize the father only being apportioned 15% of the fault. Although I understand that criticism, apportionment of fault is a classic jury question.

The vast majority of the verdict was for economic damages and the verdict is not subject to the tort reform caps on non-economic damages.

The Supreme Court will obviously take a hard look at this case on appeal. I do not know anything about evidentiary or jury instruction issues that often lead to a verdict being reversed and remanded for a new trial. Ogden has a lot of verdicts going up on appeal and it will be interesting to see what the Court does with them.

The sources of the information in this post were Ashley Ogden and courtroom observers. As always, I welcome input from others and will post any additional information that I receive. 

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There was a $5.6 million verdict today in Hinds County Circuit Court in a case tried for the last week and a half before Judge Winston Kidd. The case involved the near-drowning and resuscitation of two children at the La Quinta Inn in Jackson. 

Ashley Ogden represented the plaintiffs. Ray McNamara and Charlene Priester represented the defendants.

I will post more on this verdict on Thursday.

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A Hinds County Circuit Court jury returned a $3.6 million verdict Friday in a premises liability case. Judge Winston Kidd was the trial judge.

The Plaintiffs were Benny Ohazurike, Esther Ohazurike, and Darlington Ohazurike (6 year old son). Plaintiff's counsel were Ashley Ogden and former Chief Justice Jim Smith.

The Defendants were Parham Pointe South (owner), Ballard Realty Company (management company), and K. Wayne Rice & Associates (owner). Defense counsel were: (1)     Jamie Travis with Page Kruger & Holland in Flowood (attorney for Parham Pointe South and K. Wayne Rice & Associates); and (2)  Benny “Mac” May with Dunbar Monroe in Ridgeland (attorney for Ballard Realty and Crystal Bridges-Corcoran).

Case Facts According to Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Benny Ohazurike is a creator and designer of board games.  In 2001 Benny and his wife Esther moved into Parham Apartments on Ridgewood Road.  Plaintiff’s apartment had a leaky roof and developed mold and mildew inside the apartment.  Plaintiffs asked management to fix the maintenance problems inside their apartment, including the leaky roof and the mold and mildew inside their apartment and to clean their carpet.  Management refused to perform any maintenance or repairs on their apartment. 

 In mid 2007 a pipe in the Plaintiffs’ bathroom began to leak.  For at least 6 weeks Benny begged the manager and the maintenance staff to fix the leak.  They told Benny they would fix the leak and never did.  In May 2007 Benny and Esther went to the grocery store.  When the family came back to their apartment they discovered the leaking pipe in the bathroom had burst and flooded the majority of the apartment.  Benny had been keeping blueprints for his board games on the floor in the apartment bedroom while he worked on them.  Benny also had blueprints and partial game designs stored in the closet.  The flooding from the burst pipe destroying 19 of Benny’s game designs and blueprints.

 Management did not stop the water spewing from the pipe until several hours after it was discovered and reported by the Plaintiff.  After the flood, management continuously refused to replace the carpet in the apartment, make any other repairs or move the family into a vacant apartment.  Because of the flood the carpet began to mildew and mold spread throughout the apartment.  Plaintiff’s 3 year old son, Darlington, developed a skin condition and a cough.  Benny and Esther also developed coughs and became ill from the mold.  Darlington’s skin is permanently dotted and scarred as a result of the skin condition he developed.  Plaintiffs sued Defendants alleging failure to provide maintenance and repairs both before and after the flood, their failure to clean the mold in their apartment, and failure to replace the mildewed carpet which caused their Plaintiffs’ illnesses.

 At trial several former employees of Parham testified that management and the owners intentionally ignored the Plaintiff’s requests for repairs and maintenance and threw away his maintenance requests.   The employees testified that Benny annoyed management because he asked for repairs and because he acted as an informal security guard and maintenance man and would constantly complain about the lack of maintenance on the property, the crime on the property, and employees not doing their jobs. 

There was testimony that management denied maintenance to the Plaintiffs in order to force them out and rent the apartment for a higher price.  There was testimony that certain members of management and maintenance would randomly turn off the air conditioner to the Plaintiffs’ apartment to force them to move.  One employee, a housekeeper, testified that management forced her to sign false criminal affidavits against Benny alleging that he had threatened her with a gun.  The employee testified that when she refused to go to court and pursue the false charges, management fired her.

The defendants’ witnesses who were all former managers and regional supervisors testified that the plaintiffs were several months behind on rent and that no flood occurred. The defendants testified that just because the rent was late they could not deny maintenance service to tenants. The defense argued that the value of the plaintiffs’ injuries was zero and that the plaintiffs’ damaged games had no value. The plaintiff countered by showing a pattern at the property of no one being able to determine who owed rent because of the problems with managers taking cash and money orders and not applying the rent to the correct tenants. The plaintiff also showed that while he had fallen behind on rent in the past he had always paid up making his rent current and paid.

The Verdict

The jury awarded the Plaintiffs the following amounts:

Benny -  $2,502,208.00, Ester- $500,253.00,  Darlington - $601,251.00.

The total amount awarded to the Plaintiffs was $3,603,712.00.

My Take

The damages verdict sounds really high for those injuries. It will be interesting to see what happens if the case goes up on appeal.

This is Ashley Ogden's sixth seven figure verdict reported on this blog in a little over a year. That is impressive by any measure and places Ogden at the top of the heap of Mississippi plaintiff lawyers. That stature tends to make people a target and it will be interesting to see how Ogden handles the attention.

This verdict will lead to more chatter that I have been hearing as Ogden compiled these verdicts. First, some Jackson lawyers believe that the senior litigation partners at many Jackson defense firms are afraid to try a case against Ogden in Hinds County. Their argument is that senior partners step in and try cases that they think that they will win, but let the lawyers who worked up the case try it when they think they will lose.  This is not my theory—but I've heard it several times. 

Second, this verdict will lead to more talk around town about the irony of Chief Justice Smith working for Ogden. The perception among lawyers on both sides was that the Supreme Court would not affirm a plaintiff's verdict when Smith was the Chief Justice. The fact that Smith went into a plaintiff practice after losing his election to Justice Kitchens is ironic. But it also suggests that the man who led the Court did not share the view that plaintiffs could not get—and keep—a verdict in Mississippi. It will be interesting to see what happens when the Supreme Court rules on the appeals of these cases that Smith worked on with Ogden. 

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More information is emerging about the $3 million jury verdict rendered in federal court in Jackson on Friday.

On August 26, 2006 the Plaintiff Megan Durr was a Target employee working in the Target store on I-55 and Countyline Road in Jackson. MBS Construction was an independent contractor doing remodeling in the store for Target. MBS was deconstructing a 14 foot wall and pulled the bolts out on one side causing the wall to fall on Megan Durr and another employee who were working for Target on the other side of the wall. MBS provided no notice of its actions, no warning to the plaintiff and did not mark off the work area to limit access to non-construction persons.

The plaintiff suffered lower and mid back pains and had a double fusion at L4-5 and L5-S1 in December 2009. Her total medicals were about $174,000.00. She claimed lost wages, future medical damages, and pain and suffering. She did not seek punitives.

The defendant claimed the plaintiff had pre-existing degenerative disc disease. The Plaintiff had an almost two year period in 2005 to 2006 where she was either pain free or did not see a doctor for back pain. The defendant also raised the issue that her first two neurosurgeons in 2004 and 2005 recommended against a surgery because the plaintiff claimed to show improvement with medication and physical therapy.

Target joined the suit to recover its workers compensation lien. At trial, Target was not represented by counsel and the plaintiff represented Target's claims. The judge allowed the defendant to allege Target also had a duty to protect its employee and provide a safe work environment even though the defendant did not put on evidence of Target's duty, breach or causation. The evidence presented showed that MBS had an indemnity agreement with Target and still would be liable for any apportionment against Target.

The jury found $2.5 million for pain and suffering and disability, $350,000.00 for hospitalization and medical and nursing care, $100,000.00 for lost wages- Totaling $2,950,000.00.

Ashley Ogden tried the case for plaintiff, assisted by Jim Smith and Wendy Yuan of Ogden and Associates, PLLC.

Greg Spyridon of Spyridon, Palermo, and Dornan, LLC represented the defendant, assisted by John Herke of the same firm and John Corlew of Jackson.

The $2.5 million for pain and suffering will probably be reduced to $1 million due to Mississippi's cap on non-economic damages. Of course, the constitutionality of the cap is currently before the Mississippi Supreme Court.

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There are reports of Ashley Ogden obtaining another large verdict in a premises case, this one in federal court in Jackson. Here is the Complaint in Durr v. MBS Construction.

The Plaintiff was shopping at the Target Store in Jackson in 2004 when a wall fell on her, causing severe injuries. MBS was performing construction work in the store. Target intervened in the case. I am not sure who the verdict was against, since the verdict has not yet been posted on Pacer. I believe that the filing part of Pacer is down for the weekend, so it will probably be filed Monday. There is also no Pre-Trial Order on Pacer, so information about the parties and issues at trial is scarce.

The Plaintiff had a back injury that required surgery and had approximately $180,000 in medicals.

Former Chief Justice Jim Smith and Wendy Yaun [correction: Yuan] tried the case with Ogden. Defense counsel were Greg Spyridon and other attorneys from his New Orleans firm and John Corlew of Jackson. Corlew filed his entry of appearance three days before trial, which I am sure limited his ability to have a meaningful influence on the outcome.

Judge Tom Lee was the trial judge.

I hope to have more on this verdict next week.

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A few weeks ago I ran into Ashley Ogden and asked him about his decision to not run for Judge Yerger's Circuit Court Judge seat. Ironically, the place where I ran into Ogden was at a fundraiser for Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill, who is running for the seat and is likely to win.

Ogden stated that instead of running for judge, he plans to do some work as a special prosecutor for the Hinds County District Attorney. He hopes to get heavy sentences imposed for crimes such as robbery. Ogden believes that Jeff Weill will be a good judge and he plans to work with Weill in his capacity as a special prosecutor.

Ogden stated that he still has aspirations to be a judge. He believes that at some point in the future Weill will be appointed or elected to higher office and that the Circuit Judge position will be open again. I tend to agree with Ogden's assessment that Weill may end up in higher office.

Bruce Burton and Ali Shamsiddeen have qualified to run against Weill.

I expect Weill to win going away and to be an excellent judge.

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On Thursday the Miss. Supreme Court affirmed a 2008 Bolivar County defense verdict in Utz v. Running and Rolling Trucking Inc. Here is the Court’s opinion.

The case is noteworthy for its facts. It involved the 2003 death of Preston Utz when he rear-ended an 18–wheeler on Highway 61 in Bolivar County. The decedent had been awake for days at the time of the collision from cooking and smoking crystal meth. Talk about a bad plaintiff. The jury determined that any negligence on the defendant’s part was not a proximate cause of the accident.

The plaintiff raised forty-two (42) issues on appeal. The result was a 58–page opinion even though the decision was unanimous.

Justice Chandler wrote the Court's opinion. Chief Justice Waller and Justice Dickinson did not participate. Jason Strong and Steve Hazzard with Daniel Coker represented the defendant. Ashley Ogden and Wendy Yuan of Jackson represented the plaintiff.

Some lawyers believe that an appeal should be limited to a few issues. Others believe in identifying as many issues as possible. In recent years, I have heard at least one Mississippi Supreme Court Justice encourage lawyers to raise all potential issues on appeal. But in this case, it didn’t help and the Court affirmed the verdict. It will be interesting to see if forty-two appeal issues is a trend in civil cases.

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There is a rumor circulating that Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden has decided not to run for Hinds County Circuit Court Judge. In an article as recent as two weeks ago, Ogden was quoted as saying that he intended to run for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Judge Swan Yerger:

 Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden, who ran against Yerger four years ago, told The Clarion-Ledger in January he is preparing another run.

"I have an interest in Jackson's crime problem being solved, and that's why I ran in the first place," he said then.

But now comes word that Ogden will not run, effectively handing the seat to Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill.

Weill is the only person who has qualified to run for the seat. The qualifying deadline is May 7.

There will be a lot of people disappointed by Ogden’s telling people for four years that he is running and then backing out at the last minute. As of yesterday, Ogden even still had his campaign web site running on the Internet. Some will argue that this kept other candidates out of the race.

Ogden’s decision, however, is not a big surprise to many Jackson lawyers. Ogden’s law firm occupies a large building on Capital Street and has numerous employees, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith. The future job prospects of Ogden’s employees in a down legal market could have weighed on his decision to not run.

As for Weill, I have been impressed with him on the City Council and expect him to be a good judge.

In other Hinds County Circuit Court races, Judges Green and Kidd are not expected to have opponents. Judge Malcolm Harrison, who was recently appointed by Governor Barbour, is expected to be opposed by Bill Gowan.

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Kingfish has the story on Jeff Weill's announcement that he is running for the Hinds County Circuit Court Judge seat that is being vacated by Judge Swan Yerger:

Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill of Ward 1 announced his candidacy for the Hinds County Circuit Judge position currently held by Swan Yerger. Yerger announced he is retiring from the bench. Weill made the announcement before a gathering in front of the Willie Morris Library on Old Canton Road. Weill is a lawyer and former prosecutor.

Weill has done a good job on the city council and is a viable candidate. Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden is also expected to run for the seat. Some Jackson lawyers doubt that Ogden will run due to the size and success of his private law practice, which includes former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith.

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The Clarion-Ledger ran this article on Monday about the upcoming elections to fill the seats of retiring Judge Yerger (Hinds County Circuit) and Barnett (Hinds County County). The article was largely a repeat from an October article that quoted Ashley Ogden and Jeff Weill stating that they would probably run for Judge Yerger’s seat. I wrote about and Ogden v. Weill race here.

On the County Court side, Jackson attorneys Trent Walker and Melvin Priester have qualified for Judge Barnett’s seat. Walker is a Brandon native and Jackson State graduate who lives in South Jackson. He has extensive experience on both the plaintiff and defense side in civil litigation as well as in the criminal defense arena. He recently obtained an acquittal in a murder trial in North Mississippi that sounded a little like the trial in My Cousin Vinnie. He currently works for Schwartz and Associates in Jackson.

Priester is a special circuit court judge and practices law in Jackson.

The Ledger article does not identify the date of the election or the deadline for qualifying for the races. I believe—and I am not certain about this—that the qualifying deadline is in May and the non-partisan elections are in November.

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A Hinds County jury returned a $1 million verdict this week for a plaintiff who was beaten by a Wackenhut security guard in a McDonald’s restaurant located on Highway 80 in Jackson after a dispute with the manager over a cup of ice.

The plaintiff was allegedly a homeless man who was intoxicated at the time of the incident. He claimed to be a frequent customer of the McDonald’s. The plaintiff was arguing with the manager when the Wackenhut guard used force to remove plaintiff from the store. Plaintiff claimed to suffer a broken shoulder and other injuries.

The jury was shown a video of the attack. The Wackenhut guard shoved the plaintiff out the doors of the store, causing the plaintiff to fall and hit his head. The guard then followed the plaintiff out and stomped on the plaintiff, causing his shoulder to shatter. 

The defense argued that the use of force was justified and that plaintiff had a knife, but several witnesses testified that they did not see the plaintiff with a knife. 

The jury deliberated for 2 hours and 45 minutes and apportioned 75% of the fault to Wackenhut and its guard and 25% to McDonald's.

The entire verdict was for compensatory damages. The plaintiff did not request punitive damages.

Plaintiff’s counsel were Rocky Wilkins and Ashley Ogden of Jackson.

 Michael Wolf and Smith Boykin of the Page Kruger firm represented the Wackenhut guard. Matt Taylor of the Streetman firm represented Wackenhut. Jason Strong and Garner Berry of the Daniel Coker firm represented McDonald's.    

Judge Winston Kidd presided over the case.

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Today's Clarion-Ledger contains this article about Jackson city councilman Jeff Weill considering running for the Circuit Court seat that Judge Yerger will vacate with his retirement at the end of next year. The article states:

"It's definitely on my radar," Weill said. "The current plan is to look hard at this opportunity - it's a once-in-a-decade opportunity - and to make a decision after the first of the year."

So far, Weill said his interest has been limited to a few conversations with supporters. But he said he believes he could make more of an impact from the bench on public safety, a key issue in his recent Ward 1 re-election campaign.

"I think I could do more to protect the citizenry as a judge than as a councilman," said Weill, who was re-elected in June to a four-year term on the council. "One of the things Yerger has done is move the criminal docket forward. That's a problem we have and I would like to continue the work he has done."

I can't argue with anything Weill says here, but as a Jackson resident, I would hate to see him leave the city council. I have been impressed with his demeanor and attention to detail on the council.  

Jackson attorney Ashley Ogden also plans to run for seat:

"I have an interest in Jackson's crime problem being solved and that's why I ran in the [last election]," he said. "I would expect a minimum of six to seven people running for that seat, and I'll be one of them."

Ogden will be a formidable opponent for anyone. He garnered 42% of the vote against Judge Yerger and campaigned very hard. Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith now works for Ogden's law firm and will probably be an asset to an Ogden campaign.

Weill is a republican and is probably the hand-picked choice of the the republican party. He has proved that he can win an election and would be a challenge to Ogden. It would not be surprising to see Judge Yerger retire early so that Governor Barbour can give Weill a head start by appointing him to fill the remainder of Yerger's term.

Republicans might not support Ogden because his law practice focuses on representing injured victims instead of insurance companies and big business. While this does not necessarily mean that Ogden would be a bad judge for big business, his background might scare them. Average citizens will love Ogden's tough on crime message and Weill will look like a copy-cat if he uses a similar theme. It promises to be an interesting race.

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A Hinds County jury awarded a total of $4 million to a Jackson couple who were assaulted and beaten in 2008 in their room at the In Town Suites on I-55 in North Jackson. The case was tried before Judge Tommie Green. Plaintiff's counsel was Ashley Ogden of Jackson. Defense counsel was Wade Manor and another attorney with Scott, Sullivan Streetman and Fox of Ridgeland. The jury awarded $2 million to each of the two plaintiffs.

I watched a good portion of this trial and there really was no defense. Someone severely beat the two Plaintiffs in their room at the hotel. The former hotel manager testified that he quit because he feared for his life after having a gun put to his head in an earlier robbery. The manager testified that he begged for security. The corporation that owned the hotel would not grant the manager's requests for armed security, stating that it was not in the hotel's budget. The manager testified that the hotel netted $700,000 in profit in 2007, which was the year before the assault. 

Several police officers testified that there was a major crime problem at the hotel that hotel ownership did not address. The defendant argued that lighting and peep holes in doors was security and that there were inconsistencies in the two plaintiffs' accounts of what happened. Defense counsel seemed to be suggesting that the plaintiffs knew their attackers and were doing something wrong. But the defendant put on no evidence to support this theory. Defendants can occasionally win cases with suspicion and innuendo rather than hard evidence, but it did not happen this week in Hinds County.   

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The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger will not run for reelection when his current term expires on December 31, 2010.

Judge Yerger is 74 years old and has served on the bench since 1997. There have been rumors over the last few months that Judge Yerger would retire at the end of this year, which would allow Governor Barbour to appoint a replacement to serve until the next election. Judge Yerger currently presides over the Eaton v. Frisby trade secrets case, which is probably the biggest case currently pending in any Mississippi state court. Perhaps Judge Yerger plans to stay on the bench through 2010 so that  he can preside over the trial of that case.

Speculation will be rampant over who will run for the seat in 2010. The early favorite would have to be successful Jackson plaintiff attorney Ashley Ogden. Ogden ran against Yerger in the last election and almost won. Rumors around town are that Ogden already plans to run for the seat. Ogden is young and energetic and would be a formidable opponent  for any candidate. Republican interests would fear Ogden due to his plaintiff lawyer background. Ogden's firm web site is called Take Back Jackson and suggests that he never stopped campaigning for the seat. Former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith is now associated with Ogden's firm. The conservative Smith's active support in a campaign would be a huge benefit to Ogden's chances.  

There is no doubt that Judge Yerger's retirement and the looming election to replace him will be a huge story in 2010.  

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A Hinds County Circuit Court jury awarded $2.5 million on Friday to David Marble, a thirty-nine year old cable repairman. Here is the Clarion-Ledger story, which is light on the details. The case was tried before Judge Tommie Green. Ashley Ogden represented the plaintiff and Hugh Gillon from Upshaw Williams represented the defendant, Deviney Construction. Plaintiff alleged that Deviney cut a live electrical wire and left without warning anyone about the hazardous condition. Plaintiff later came into contact with the wire, causing severe injuries.  

It's my understanding that the plaintiff suffered a back injury and that there was expert testimony that he was permanently disabled. I'm not sure how an electrical contact causes a back injury.

I believe that this is Ogden's fourth seven figure verdict in Hinds County this year. There was also an announcement in the paper on Sunday that former Chief Justice Jim Smith is now of counsel with Ogden's firm, which is very ironic. I'll post more on this verdict if I obtain additional information about the case.  

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On Friday a Hinds County Circuit Court jury rendered a $2.5 million verdict for Linda Knox, a 62 year old woman who in 2007 was severely beaten in the parking lot of the Kroger Grocery Store on I-55 in northeast Jackson. Ms. Knox was hospitalized for two weeks following the attack and was permanently blinded in one eye. Her two attackers targeted older women in shopping center parking lots. Ms. Knox's attorneys were Rocky Wilkins and Ashley Ogden of Jackson. Kroger's attorney was Bill Luckett of Clarksdale.

Viewing the comments to the story on the Clarion-Ledger's website , there is sympathy for Kroger's defense, which the Ledger described as follows: 

But Luckett said there was no way Kroger could have prevented "crazy, drugged out thugs" from carrying out the attack.

Luckett said one of those charged in the crime said they had driven around the parking lot looking for a female to snatch her purse.

"Look at it as an unfortunate event that happened on Kroger's lot," Luckett said.

I'm going to argue the other side of the coin on this one. Businesses on the I-55 corridor in Jackson invite customers in and take their money, but never disclose that there is a history of crime activity in their parking lots. There are many purse snatchings and similar assaults in the parking lots of these businesses. Most do not make the news. Visit that Kroger and I promise you that you will never see a sign that says: "Warning! Crazy drugged out thugs beat up an old lady in the parking lot last week. Shop at your own risk." Businesses like Kroger should either disclose the crime history on their premises or provide protection for their customers.

To get a verdict in a premises liability case the plaintiff must prove that the defendant was on notice of a dangerous condition. Ms. Knox and her attorneys presumably met this burden. I doubt that Ms. Knox knew about the crime wave in the Kroger parking lot--most people do not. Kroger knows this and likes it that its customers do not know, otherwise they might drive out to the Wal Mart. The critics of this verdict would not give Kroger or another business their sympathy if they were attacked in the parking lot of a business with an undisclosed history of crime activity.