Update: Greenwood Commonwealth's Full Article on $12 Million Leflore County Verdict

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Philip Thomas

Here is the Greenwood Commonwealth’s article about the recent $12 million Leflore County jury verdict for former Valley basketball player Michael Archie. Information included:

  • A judge issued a default judgment in 2005 finding that the owner of Itta Bena’s now-defunct Club Focus, Rosie Meeks Brown, was liable in the case. Brown had never responded to legal filings. The jury’s job, therefore, was to set the amount of damages.
  • A second defendant, security guard Johny King, re-sponded to the suit and was going to represent himself, according to Moore. However, King did not show up for the trial.
  • When asked if he expected the defendants would ever pay, [Carlos] Moore said he reserved comment. However, Club Focus did have insurance, according to Moore. “They can pay voluntarily, or we can make them pay,” he said.

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Update: $12 Million Verdict Was a Damages Hearing on a 2005 Default Judgment

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Philip Thomas

Word on the street in Greenwood is that the $12 million LeFlore County verdict rendered on Wednesday was a damages hearing on a 2005 default judgment. Sources tell me that the defendant nightclub went out of business shortly after the shooting and did not defend the case. No attorney ever appeared to defend the club owner. Plaintiff’s attorney was Carlos Moore of Grenada.

Apparently, the trial involved the plaintiff putting on evidence related to the victim’s damages and the jury making a damages award. The fact that the verdict was high is not surprising, since the underlying injury was severe, the facts presented at the trial were uncontested and the arguments one-sided.

This raises the question of whether the plaintiff will ever collect any of the judgment. Typically, a no-show defendant is a bad sign for the plaintiff.

There is some conflicting information related to this verdict. There are reports that the plaintiff’s attorney is claiming that the club did have liability insurance. But if that is true, the insurer would presumably have hired counsel to defend the case. There are times when there are screw-ups and cases end up with a default judgment even when there is insurance, but the insurance company wakes up at some point and tries to get the verdict set aside.

I appreciate reports from readers regarding the verdict and will post any new information that I receive.   

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