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

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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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The $3.3 million verdict in Rankin County last week is confirmed. It was an 18-wheeler case where a drunk truck driver ran a red light on highway 49 in Florence. The truck driver pleaded guilty to DUI homicide. The case was a wrongful death suit on behalf of the family of a nineteen-year-old passenger. It was a pre-tort reform case, so the $1 million cap on non-economic damages does not apply. The jury was eleven whites and one African-American. There were ten women on the jury and two police officers. The average age of the jury was approximately 34. The trial judge was Judge Samac Richardson.

John Toney represented the plaintiffs. The defense lawyers were Jack Price of Wise Carter, Ed Taylor of Daniel Coker and Walter Dukes from Gulfport.