541 results for 'cat:"Wrongful Death"'.
J. Chamberlin finds the lower court properly found that an issue of material fact exists in this wrongful death matter. As the result of a multi-vehicle accident, a driver sustained injuries for which he was prescribed medication. The wife of the driver filed a wrongful death action, arguing the opposing parties are responsible for the death of her husband, for if he was not involved in the accident, he would not have been prescribed the medications that led to his death by liver failure. Because there is a question of foreseeability, the instant court finds the matter should go before a jury. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court, Judge: Chamberlin, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 2021-CT-01284-SCT, Categories: wrongful Death
J. Horton finds the trial court improperly excluded a toxicology report showing the decedent was impaired at the time of a car collision in this wrongful death suit. The decedent's parents allege the driver of a flatbed truck was negligent for failing to keep a proper lookout and for blocking both lanes of travel when their daughter collided with the trailer at more than 90 mph. The report was probative and relevant to the jury’s decision regarding what percentage of fault to allocate to the decedent in apportioning the fault between both drivers. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Horton , Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 09-21-00372-CV, Categories: Vehicle, Experts, wrongful Death
J. Pritzker finds that the lower court improperly dismissed wrongful death claims stemming from a medical emergency at the swimming pool of a camp resort that resulted in death. The camp constituted a "temporary residence" under state sanitary code and thus did not owe a duty to provide a lifeguard at the pool, but the code required the camp to offer some oversight of swimmers. Affirmed in part.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Pritzker, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: CV-23-0387, Categories: wrongful Death
J. Kilbane finds the lower court improperly granted the hospital's motion in limine to exclude the estate's expert witness. The physician testified with the required degree of medical certainty the hospital's failure to recognize symptoms of acidosis and renal dysfunction was the proximate cause of the decedent's death. Although the physician could not testify the exact cause of the decedent's ischemic bowel, such specificity was not necessary to establish proximate cause; therefore, the expert testimony should have been admitted and the hospital's motion for summary judgment denied. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Kilbane, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-659, Categories: Experts, wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice
J. Hood finds the appeals court erroneously determined Colorado law requires a police officer to activate their lights and sirens for the entirety of a high-speed chase to be entitled to immunity for any personal injuries. The language of the statute includes no such language and allows for the application of immunity during any time period when an officer uses lights and sirens. Therefore, the officer who caused a fatal collision during a high-speed chase is entitled to immunity on wrongful death claims because he activated his lights well before he reached the intersection at which the collision occurred. Reversed.
Court: Colorado Supreme Court, Judge: Hood, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 2024CO9, Categories: Immunity, wrongful Death
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J. Hall partially rules in favor of the doctor in a civil rights and medical malpractice action brought by the estate executor arising from the decedent's death. The executor alleged that the doctor failed to prevent the decedent's pressure ulcers from worsening. The executor lacks standing to bring a wrongful death claim against the doctor. However, a genuine issue of fact exists as to when the statute of limitations began to run on the medical malpractice claim. The doctor's motion to exclude an expert's opinions on causation is granted because the expert's differential diagnosis is not reliable. The expert failed to explain why she rejected other causes of the decedent's sepsis to find that the doctor's negligence caused the decedent's injury.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 4:15cv149, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice
J. Cates finds that the lower court properly found for the doctor in a medical malpractice suit stemming from a patient's death. The court did not err in allowing the defense expert to opine regarding other possible causes of the patient's death. His testimony that the patient could have died of stroke was based upon the patient's medical history and not mere speculation. Further, it correctly refused to admit the patient's death certificate into evidence as the cause of death listed on the certificate was an opinion of the coroner, but not based on any postmortem examination. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Cates, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 220552, Categories: Experts, wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice
[Consolidated.] J. Sellers finds that the lower court properly ruled that a casino cannot be held liable for stating the bad weather would be manageable when a bus crashed due to severe weather, killing a passenger and injuring others on board. The evidence does not show the casino had a duty to provide "accurate" weather information to the person who chartered the bus. Affirmed.
Court: Alabama Supreme Court, Judge: Sellers, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: SC-2023-0520, Categories: Transportation, Negligence, wrongful Death
J. Murphy finds the lower court erroneously denied the jail officers' motion for qualified immunity on civil rights claims filed by the estate of the WWE wrestler. It applied the Sixth Circuit's current caselaw standard, not the standard applicable in 2018 at the time of the inmate's suicide. Although current precedent requires prison guards "recklessly overlook" a pretrial detainee's strong likelihood of suicide, the standard applicable at the time of the incident in question required proof that guards "subjectively believed" there was a strong likelihood of suicide. Because all testimony from the guards in this case indicates the decedent never seemed suicidal, was not experiencing any drug or alcohol withdrawals, and was nearly two decades removed from a previous suicide attempt, they had no reason to believe he would kill himself and are entitled to immunity. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Murphy, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-5898, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, wrongful Death
J. Campbell finds the lower court improperly determined that the decedent’s attorney-in-fact’s action of signing an arbitration agreement upon his admittance to an assisted living center was outside the scope of her power of attorney and was a health care decision. The instant court finds that the arbitration agreement was a stand-alone agreement and the decedent’s admission to the center was not contingent upon the signing of the agreement, therefore it was a legal decision and fell within the parameters of the the attorney-in-fact’s authority. As such, the arbitration agreement is binding in its terms, extending beyond the signing parties to the decedent’s other surviving family, including his son, and requires the wrongful-death claims to be submitted to arbitration. Reversed.
Court: Tennessee Supreme Court, Judge: Campbell, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: M2021-00927-SC-R11-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Health Care, wrongful Death
J. O'Neil finds a lower court properly partly ruled in favor of a surviving spouse's wrongful death claims against a county. The surviving spouse argued that the county is not entitled to judicial immunity after it sent his wife, a constable, now deceased, to a residence of a violent offender to serve process, who shot and killed her. However, the lower court properly concluded that legislative immunity does not shield the county's decision to appoint the constable, but erred in deciding that her acts of service of a writ were not protected by judicial immunity. Reversed in part.
Court: Arizona Court Of Appeals Division One, Judge: O'Neil , Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 2 CA-SA 2023-91, Categories: Employment, Immunity, wrongful Death
J. Kelsey finds the trial court properly dismissed a wrongful death action brought by the estate of decedent against medical providers. The estate’s personal representative failed to present the claim to the department of financial services within the two years the claim accrued. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Kelsey, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 1D2023-0724, Categories: Due Process, wrongful Death
J. Gladwin finds the trial court properly denied the nursing home's motion to compel arbitration. The estate executor attests that admissions paperwork did not contain an arbitration provision, and a separate, voluntary arbitration agreement was sent for her review prior to the deceased party's admission. The executor says that the agreement she reviewed was not the same as the provision incorporated into the admissions agreement, and nothing in the record disputes the executor's sworn statements. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin , Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: CV-22-510, Categories: Arbitration, Health Care, wrongful Death
J. Bailey finds a lower court properly charged a motorhome driver for death of a moving violation after he crashed into the rear-end of another driver's vehicle. The driver argued that he is entitled to relief because he rear-ended the other vehicle before entering an intersection at a red light. However, the state sufficiently showed in court that the enhanced penalty statute does not require a crash to have occurred in the middle of an intersection. Reversed.
Court: Arizona Court Of Appeals Division One, Judge: Bailey, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 1 CA-SA 23-162, Categories: Negligence, wrongful Death
[Consolidated.] J. Gillmor rules on several consolidated motions in limine in a case involving fatal helicopter crash. Motions to exclude documents like the helicopter company’s liability waivers and night-flying policy are denied due to their relevance to the case. A request for spoliation sanctions regarding radar information that was initially deleted and then later reconstructed is denied, though the issue of admissibility will be determined at trial.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv265, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, wrongful Death, Aviation
[Consolidated.] J. Gillmor rules on several consolidated motions in limine in a case involving fatal helicopter crash. Motions to exclude documents like the helicopter company’s liability waivers and night-flying policy are denied due to their relevance to the case. A request for spoliation sanctions regarding radar information that was initially deleted and then later reconstructed is denied, though admissibility will be ruled on at trial.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv266, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, wrongful Death, Aviation
J. Fitzgerald Smith finds that the lower court properly entered judgment in favor of the family in a wrongful death suit, awarding them $42.5 million against the hospital after it failed to prevent a patient's baclofen withdrawal, despite being well-informed of his need for the drug ahead of his surgery. The jury reasonably found that a complete breakdown of communication between hospital departments led to to his organ failure from not receiving the drug he needed for his muscle spasms. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Fitzgerald Smith, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 230355, Categories: Damages, wrongful Death
J. Hall partially grants the individuals' motions to dismiss a civil rights and wrongful death action brought by the children of the decedent. The civil rights claim is dismissed due to the children's failure to allege a violation of a federal right. The children's motion to remand the action is denied because the individuals established there was unanimous consent to remove the action at the time of removal. The remaining state law claims are remanded to the state court of Tattnall County.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 6:23cv16, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, wrongful Death
J. Bea finds that the district court improperly granted an individual's motion to strike an affirmative defense of waiver or release and remanded for further proceedings in a wrongful death admiralty action. The matter arose from the death of an individual's wife during a scuba and snorkeling tour from Lahaina Harbor to Molokini Crater, an atoll off the coast of Maui. Before the tour, the husband and his wife each signed a waiver document releasing rights to sue the diving company. The district court struck the defense on the basis that the liability waivers were void under a United States Code which prohibits certain liability waiver. The code in question prohibited liability waivers between ports, not from one port and back to a single port in the United States without stopping at any other port. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bea, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 22-16149, Categories: Admiralty, wrongful Death
J. Gladwin finds the circuit court properly denied the nursing home's motion to compel arbitration on a daughter's negligence claims for injuries and the wrongful death of her mother. The mother allegedly sustained injuries from falls, was subject to inaccurate assessments and incurred a UTI. The arbitration agreement lacks mutuality of obligation and, therefore, is not a valid agreement. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gladwin , Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: CV-22-517, Categories: Arbitration, Health Care, wrongful Death
J. Pickett finds that the trial court properly dismissed the independent administrator's claims stemming from the deaths of his family members from carbon monoxide poisoning after they used a generator following hurricane-related power outages. Based on the relevant statutes, the independent administrator lacked a cause of action to sue for survival and wrongful death damages. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pickett, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: CA-23-455, Categories: Civil Procedure, Product Liability, wrongful Death
J. Kyzar finds that the trial court properly granted partial summary judgment that the concrete truck driver was solely at fault for a rear-end auto accident that resulted in a fatal injuries to a child and serious injuries to her other family members. The evidence shows that although another driver had cut across the concrete truck driver's lane in order to avoid being hit by him, her actions were not a "substantial cause of the accident" since the concrete truck driver failed to keep his attention focused on the roadway and timely slow his vehicle before crashing into the family's car. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Kyzar, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: CA-23-367, Categories: Evidence, Negligence, wrongful Death
J. Moody grants a hospital food producer’s motion for summary judgment against claims of wrongful death filed by a grandmother’s surviving family members, who were unable to prove her death was due to eating defective, high-sodium food.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Arkansas , Judge: Moody, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv995, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Product Liability, wrongful Death
J. Dimke denies Daimler Truck's motion for a protective order over questions such as where the company placed "safety" among other criteria, as part of the family's suit accusing Daimler of not equipping its semi-truck with collision warnings and automatic emergency braking, resulting in the truck driver hitting and killing a pedestrian. Daimler argues that topics 1 through 4 should be limited at deposition because they seek information to leverage a juror to artificially increase a damages award, but its compliance with industry safety customs and ensuring its products were safe are relevant to this case.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3054, NOS: Motor Vehicle Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Wilkin finds the estate's failure to file an affidavit of prejudice with the Ohio Supreme Court to seek recusal of the trial court judge - the only avenue for such relief - prevents this court from reviewing its claim of bias, which must be dismissed. Meanwhile, the lower court properly dismissed the estate's claims against family services and its employees because allegations of an insufficient investigation into the decedent's death are not supported by any tort law or cause of action in the State of Ohio. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilkin, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-437, Categories: Judiciary, Emotional Distress, wrongful Death
J. Vitter grants summary judgment to a sheriff, dismissing the wrongful death and excessive force claims brought by the sister of a transgender inmate who alleges he died in custody after being beaten in his cell by deputies. There is no evidence to support her allegations the deputies used force on or before his death. The undisputed evidence, contained in the autopsy report, shows that the inmate died of natural causes, specifically a Covid-19 infection. The autopsy further states that there was no evidence of trauma.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 22cv3734, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, wrongful Death