Summary
Highlights
This video discusses a catastrophic wrongful death case where a 16-year-old son tragically lost his life. The aim is to share the facts of this tragedy and walk viewers through the litigation and jury trial process, offering insight into what it takes to successfully handle a civil wrongful death case.
The family was looking forward to a vacation at their Lake Havasu, Arizona home, enjoying water activities. One day, their 16-year-old son and his cousin went jet skiing on the Colorado River. While exploring a reed-lined channel at 5-10 mph, another watercraft unexpectedly came around a blind corner at high speed, striking the son head-on and killing him.
The family was left devastated by the avoidable death. They trusted local police to investigate but were disappointed when the investigation concluded their son caused the collision and had a positive blood alcohol level. The family, knowing their son did not drink, came to us for help, suspecting a cover-up by local authorities.
We believed the family's account and filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The defendant, a 52-year-old retired naval officer, had the case moved to federal court, requiring a unanimous jury verdict instead of a 9 out of 12 majority. The defendant's insurance company initially denied responsibility and offered an insulting $1 settlement.
During discovery, we learned the local police had mixed up blood test results; our client's son had no alcohol or drugs in his system. We thoroughly investigated, traveling to Lake Havasu, interviewing witnesses, and taking depositions. We discovered two eyewitnesses who confirmed the defendant was racing unsafely around a blind corner, causing the collision, and that our client did nothing wrong.
Despite new evidence and eyewitnesses, the defendant's insurance increased their settlement offer to only $20,000, which our clients rejected. At trial, the defense presented an accident reconstruction expert team who had based their findings on the wrong collision location, a critical flaw. The defense also argued that our client's son assumed the risk, which we countered by stating he had a right to expect safe conduct from others, and the judge agreed.
The federal jury ultimately sided with us, awarding our clients a gross wrongful death verdict of $1,250,000. This success was attributed to the family's unwavering belief in their son's innocence and their patience and trust in our legal process, allowing us the time and resources needed to prove the case. The video concludes by emphasizing that working on cases for deeply believed causes is a pleasure, not work.