10/7/06---Tales from the Courthouse....#293

So this week we deviated from the normal playbook and did a civil trial.  Ya know, someone suing someone else for money.  I was actually looking slightly forward to it at the beginning of the week, since it would be a chance for our courtroom to do something that did not involve the initials "DUI" in them.

I'm here to tell you....I was wrong for wanting the change.

Dull....deadly dull.  That a way to describe the civil trial, and all things considered it was actually better than most civil trials.

Get a load of this one.  Two older ladies--we'll use the names Ann & Esther.  They've known each other for awhile and Esther goes over to visit Ann one day and enjoy an evening out.  They leave to go out and Ann drives--apparently as she usually does--and as they are driving along through their residential neighborhood, their car is broadsided (or "T-boned" if you will) by a car that runs through a stop sign.  The car is pretty much a total loss, an ambulance comes to check on them.  Esther is complaining of stomach pains and Ann instructs the paramedics to take her to the hospital first.  Esther is placed into the ambulance and Ann gets into the back of the ambulance with her, since she has only complained of a slight bump in the head.  They go to the hospital.

That's pretty much what happened the day of the accident---stay with me here.

Esther is kept in the hospital a couple of days for "observation".  Ann apparently comes to visit her a few times to check on her condition.  After she is released, Esther goes to her doctor complaining that her stomach is still bothering her.  An examination and some tests reveal that Esther has suffered a slight tear in either her colon or digestive track.
Esther ends up back in the hospital and has surgery to repair the problem.  She is forced to wear a colostymy bag for approximately a month but has now been declared fully cured and is no longer wearing the bag.

Esther, as she undoubtably should have, sues the driver of the car that hit them and his insurance company along with a few others (the city or county, the car company....I dunno, anyone she probably could think of).  All of the parties that are sued by her end up settling out of court for agreed upon amounts.  However, there is apparently one problem.  Esther still owes for some medical bills (I believe it was approximately $3,000).   So what does she do?  How does she hope pay for those last bills????

She sues Ann.  Her friend.  The one that was driving.  The one that told the paramedics to put Esther in the ambulance first.  The one that rode with her to the hospital.  The one that visited her in the hospital.  The one that was the victim in the car accident.  The one who got "t-boned" by the other driver.

Esther's lawyer makes the subtle inference during the trial that Ann had a glass of wine that day before they went out for the drive in the car.  He claimed that perhaps that was the reason that Ann couldn't avoid the driver that hit her.  The one who blew through the stop sign.  Esther's lawyer asked the jury to do one of two things--either pay her the amount that was still outstanding for medicine, or for her "pain and suffering" in the amount of.....hold onto your hats folks....

$300,000.

The jury was sent out and came back with their verdict.

Butkus.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  Nothing.

First of all, Esther's lawyer should've gotten the outstanding amount due to her from one of the other parties that they had sued.  Instead, they sued the only party they hadn't sued.  Her friend.

Something tells me that these ladies are not exchanging cards during the holiday season.

Amazing.

Later,
Jeff