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

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Last week a Lowndes County Circuit Court jury awarded Chrissy Strickland $88,000 in damages in an alienation of affection lawsuit against Melissa Simmons. The verdict consisted of $87,500 in compensatory damages and $500 in punitive damages. The small punitive verdict will allow the plaintiff to recover attorney's fees.

The plaintiff (Strickland) alleged that in early 2007 Simmons began an affair with Strickland's husband, who was also Simmons' step-brother (their parents married years earlier). In September  2007, Strickland and Simmons' husband announced that they wanted divorces and were "talking." Plaintiff's investigation revealed that the two were doing a bit more than "talking." The two later married, significantly reducing the number of holiday family gatherings that the couple would have to attend. 

The defendant (Simmons) unsuccessfully argued that the plaintiff's marriage was dead before the affair started and that she did not start having sex with plaintiff's husband until after she and plaintiff's husband announced their plans to divorce their spouses.

I bet no one had to worry about the jury falling asleep during this trial.  

The jury's verdict was based on an 11-1 vote and followed a two and a half day trial. The plaintiff asked for $175,000 in closing argument, but offered to settle the case before trial for less than the amount of the verdict.  

Plaintiff's counsel was Doug Ford with Mitchell McNutt in Columbus. Defense counsel was Tyson Graham of Columbus. Judge Lee Howard presided over the case.  

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On Tuesday the Clarion-Ledger website posted this AP story about the lawsuit filed in Tupelo by a woman who was struck by a train. Here is a quote of the entire article:

Helen Gable was taking pictures on the railroad tracks in Tupelo in 2006 when a train nearly cut off her leg as she tried to get out of the way.

Gable and her husband are suing the railroad company for nearly $6 million. 

Gable says the company should have posted trespassing signs to keep people away. 

The lawsuit also claims the train was exceeding federal speed limits and that a cable was hanging off the side and cut her. 

BNSF Railway Company spokeswoman Suann Lundsberg said the company is investigating and is sympathetic to Gable’s injuries, but “she admits in her lawsuit filing that she was trespassing” to take photos on the track. 

Lundsberg also said BNSF has equipment that detects if something is hanging or dragging from a train.

The comments to the story are brutal and unanimously agree that the case is frivilous. But reading the entire Complaint makes the lawsuit sound more reasonable.

Here is the actual Complaint filed by the plaintiff. According to the Complaint, Mrs. Gable was six feet off of the tracks, but was hit by a cable hanging off the train as she tried to get further from the train. It does not sound normal that there would be a cable protruding six feet from a train. She alleges that she could not get further from the train because the train was speeding. 

The plaintiff's attorney is Roy Parker of Tupelo and the railroad's lawyer is Billy Spencer with Mitchell McNutt in Tupelo. I do not know Parker. Spencer is a good lawyer and if the plaintiff's claim does not have merit, then I am confidant that he will win the case on behalf of the railroad. I have no idea what really happened and I have no opinion on the merits of the case.