Criminal - Second-Degree Murder - Infant Death - Mother’s Arrest - Brady Violation
Published: August 11, 2008
A Fairfax Circuit Court holds that under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the commonwealth should have disclosed to defendant being tried for the murder of a 22-month-old boy, the circumstances of the arrest of the boy’s mother, the only other adult present on the scene at the time the child was injured, and [...]
Contributory negligence alleged in tractor-trailer crash - Defense Verdict 
Published: August 11, 2008
Plaintiff claimed significant ongoing neck, back and leg pain from a collision with the defendant’s tractor-trailer, which occurred with such force that the tractor-trailer’s headlight was impaled in the windshield of plaintiff’s minivan. Defendant driver was maneuvering his tractor-trailer across four lanes of traffic into a dock.
Plaintiff testified that she waited for the driver [...]
Negligence per se, res ipsa are issues in electrical shock - $1,000,000 Settlement
Published: August 11, 2008
Plaintiff was a 47-year-old pilot for a commercial airline who spent the night at a hotel after flying a Boeing 737 to a Virginia international airport on June 30, 2005. Before leaving the next morning on a similar flight, the pilot took a shower.
While washing his hair with his hands directly above his head, the [...]
Operator killed when aerial boom tips over - $2,162,000 Settlement
Published: August 11, 2008
Patrick Ott was an experienced mechanic employed by a heavy equipment rental company. A boom-supported aerial lift had been returned from the field the day before, and Ott was assigned to perform an inspection of the machine prior to its delivery to the next customer.
Operating the aerial lift from its work platform, he elevated [...]
Payment higher than limits because of bad faith claim - $117,949 Verdict
Published: August 11, 2008
Plaintiff, a Henrico County elementary school teacher, was southbound on Pouncey Tract Road when he saw traffic in front of him coming to a stop. According to plaintiff’s testimony, he applied his brakes and stopped approximately a foot behind the vehicle in front of him. A second later, the defendant struck the rear [...]
Renter moves in before owner buys tenant policy - Defense Verdict
Published: August 11, 2008
Plaintiff purchased a property to fix up and flip in Charlottesville. While the property was under construction, plaintiff contacted Nuckols Insurance to purchase a builder’s risk policy to cover the premises while the project was being renovated.
One month before the builder’s risk policy was set to expire, plaintiff received a card telling her it was [...]
Pregnant woman suffers back, neck injuries in crash - $80,000 Verdict
Published: August 11, 2008
On May 10, 2005, Aaron Cramer’s vehicle ran a red light in Chesterfield County and collided with plaintiff Heather Krauss’s vehicle. Damages to Krauss’s car were significant. Cramer died a few months later of unrelated causes. Liability was admitted at trial.
At the time of the accident, Krauss was 26 years old. [...]
Catch a thief and you’re sitting on top of the world…
Published: August 11, 2008
A routine bar meeting at the beach this summer gave one Virginia prosecutor the chance to take his own bite out of crime.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh was down in Virginia Beach for the annual confab of the Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys Association July 31.
He had just left a meeting at the Cavalier Hotel when [...]
Passenger wins $10.2M for second brain injury
Published: August 11, 2008
By October 2003, Lynn Zoll had become something of a spokesperson for brain injury survivors.
She had suffered a brain injury when she fell on a patch of ice in February 1987. Zoll was on her way to a brain injury conference from her Tidewater home when a tractor-trailer rear-ended the Jeep in which she was [...]
Dispatcher pays for doubts about hit-and-run call
Published: August 11, 2008
The family of a pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run accident has recovered $200,000 from a public safety dispatcher who ignored a call about the incident.
The lawsuit arising from the 2001 death of Jody Swisher alleged a Staunton dispatcher was grossly negligent in failing to heed the 911 emergency call. The dispatcher, Richard [...]
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