$35,000,000 | Motor Vehicle Accident
Viles & Beckman, LLC, Fort Myers. Lee County jury returns $35 million dollar jury verdict against a drunk driver who caused a serious rollover crash striking Sally Schwartz who was rendered a quadriplegic on May 21, 1998. The verdict was returned after a vigilant course of litigation. The Defendant, English, who was driving a Mazda pickup truck was returning home at approximately 4:30 a.m. after a night of drinking. Sally Schwartz, who was a receptionist at a local doctor's office, and a local volunteer, had gotten up early to make a trip to Maryland to straighten out the affairs of her mother who had just died and to assist her elderly father. Ms. Schwartz had not gotten very far when the Defendant driving in excess of 70 miles an hour crashed into the rear of the car that Ms. Schwartz was driving. The impact was so severe that Ms. Schwartz' vehicle was sent rolling over and over until it came to a rest on the side of Pine Island Road.
The Defendant, English, fled the scene and escaped to his house but was eventually arrested by a combined task force of the Lee County Sheriff's Office and Cape Coral Police Department, who acting on a tip, determined his whereabouts. Blood alcohol testing revealed that Mr. English had a blood alcohol level of .180, more than twice the legal limit.
The jury, consisting of five men and one woman, deliberated for most of the afternoon after hearing closing arguments and returned a verdict awarding $15 million in compensatory damages and $20 million dollars in punitive damages. Ms. Schwartz was represented by the local law firm of Viles & Beckman, LLC through attorneys Michael Beckman, Kelly Huang and Marcus Viles. The Honorable John S. Carlin, Circuit Judge, presided over the matter.
Mr. English's insurance company had been made aware of the Trial but wrote Mr. English a letter the week before stating, "We will not undertake the defense of the insured in this matter." Mr. English had previously been ordered by the criminal court to make restitution to the victim but had refused to do so.
The verdict represents one of the largest verdicts in Southwest Florida and sends a clear and unequivocal message to drunk drivers: "Don't drink and drive because if you do, you can run, you can hide, but we will find you and justice will be brought to bear against you". The case represents the culmination of a long and difficult period for the victim who was paralyzed from the neck down with only very limited use of her upper arms and who requires attendant care 24 hours a day, and will require this care for the rest of her life. The case further highlights the tragedy of our social service system in which the victim was forced to make daily decisions between whether to purchase food or medicine with her limited financial resources and, as a result of those difficult decisions, had suffered extreme malnourishment prior to Trial.