Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

The Maryland State Police, a former Howard County police officer, and a state trooper are among the 11 parties being sued for the wrongful deaths of two teenager who were killed in an accident involving a tractor-trailer and a non-working traffic light in Jessup, Maryland last January. In two separate lawsuits, Roger and Nancy Caplan, the parents of Scott Caplan, 19, and William and Linda Howard, the parents of Theresa E. Howard, 18, are asking for $5 million in damages.

Theresa Howard and Scott Caplan had been traveling in a Volvo going westbound on Route 175 when a tractor-trailer exiting southbound on 1-95 hit their vehicle. The traffic light at the intersection was not working at that time. According to the lawsuit filed, even though a Howard County police officer and a Maryland State police trooper had visited the intersection when the light was out, both of them failed to supervise the intersection or let drivers know that the light wasn’t working.

Defendants in the lawsuit include State trooper Raymond A. Hale and then-Howard County police officer Patrick Egley (the two men who visited the intersection and were aware of the nonworking light), Maryland State Police, the state of Maryland, Meghan St. Martin (the person who was driving the Volvo), Gary Lee Dicks (the truck driver whose truck hit the Volvo), and the five transportation companies who subcontracted work to Dicks.

St. Martin, The driver of the Volvo, also filed a lawsuit for $300,000 against Dicks, the trucking company that hired him, the state of Maryland, Howard County, and Officer Hegley. Dicks has been charged with negligent driving and failing to yield to oncoming traffic on a highway.

In a wrongful death claim, the person who is considered responsible for causing another person’s death due to their negligent actions can be sued for wrongful death.

Usually, the people who can file a wrongful death suit are:

· The child or children of a parent(s) that has died.
· The parents of a child who has died.

· A husband or a wife who has lost their spouse.

In certain states, legal dependents, grandparents, and other kinds of relatives can file.

A wrongful death suit can be filed against a wide variety of people, such as:
· A criminal who caused the wrongful death.
· The manufacturer of a defective product that led to the wrongful death.
· The driver of a vehicle responsible for a wrongful death-related accident.
· The state—if their negligent actions led to a wrongful death.
· The police or fire department—if their actions or nonaction led to a wrongful death.
· The owner of a pool where someone drowned because there was no supervision.

· A doctor whose failure to make a diagnosis led to someone’s death.

Family members, however, cannot sue another member for wrongful death unless they are not blood relatives.

The amount of damages that can be brought and the settlement amount that can be reached will depend on the laws of the state where the wrongful death occurred.

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The family of Christopher Ausherman, Jr., the 9-year-old boy killed in 2005 by a convicted sexual offender who was wrongly released from prison, is asking for up to $775,000 more from either the Maryland General Assembly or Maryland’s Board of Public Works. The state of Maryland had recently paid Ausherman’s parents $200,000 to settle the wrongful death claim. This amount is the largest that the state treasurer’s office can pay in a wrongful death suit. The Board of Public Workers, however, is allowed to pay more. The attorney for Mary Voit, Ausherman’s mother, says that she is seeking a total of $975,000, which is the maximum in compensatory damages allowed in Maryland.

Christopher Ausherman, Jr. was murdered on November 19, 2000 by Elmer Spencer Jr., who sexually assaulted Ausherman and bludgeoned him to death in a baseball field dugout. Spencer, a mentally retarded man with a history of rape and assault, had been released from prison on November 14 after serving 3 ½ years of a 10-year prison sentence. He is now serving two life terms, in addition to 20 years in prison, for convictions relating to Ausherman’s death. Ausherman’s parents are accusing the state of miscalculating the good-time credits that led to Spencer’s early release. The state of Maryland disagrees with this accusation and claims that Spencer’s good behavior resulted in his mandatory release.

A wrongful death case is a civil case where monetary compensatory damages are sought for the death of a person. Unlike in a criminal case where there must be proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, a wrongful death case asks that there be a preponderance of the evidence that more than likely (a 51 % chance) the party being sued is guilty.

A “wrongful death” is considered to have taken place when a person is killed due to:

· Someone’s negligence or careless action.
· An intentional act, such as murder.

· Reckless behavior.

The deceased person’s loved ones are considered to also have been injured by this death, especially if they relied on the person for financial or emotional support.

In Maryland, the statute of limitation for filing a wrongful death suit is three years from the date of death, unless a person’s wrongful death was caused by a work-related disease. In the case of the latter, then the statute of limitations is either less than 10 years from the date of death or no more than three years from when the cause of death is found out.

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The family of retired New York Times journalist David Rosenbaum is suing Howard University Hospital and Washington D.C. for errors D.C. police and hospital workers made in their care of Rosenbaum after he was robbed and severely beaten in a Northwest neighborhood in January 2005. The wrongful death case also alleges that there were delayed ambulance response, further delays at the hospital, and misdiagnosis.

The lawsuit says that rescuers mistakenly diagnosed Rosenbaum as being drunk when they found him. Rosenbaum was classified as a low priority and an emergency room doctor didn’t see him until 90 minutes after he was attacked. Just last month, Percey Jordan, 42 was convicted of of second- and first-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and five counts of credit card fraud in the death of Rosenbaum, 63. Jordan’s cousin, Michael Hamlin, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

A wrongful death case may be filed when a person dies due to the wrongful or negligent conduct of another person or persons. Medical malpractice can also be a reason for filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

CNN and Headline News TV Host Nancy Grace are being sued by the parents of a woman who committed suicide after Grace interviewed her on her television show. Beth and Jerry Eubank say that Grace’s interview of Melinda Duckett regarding the disappearance of Duckett’s son, Trenton, caused the 21-year-old mother to commit suicide. The parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit last week.

Duckett had said that Trenton disappeared from his bedroom on the night of August 27, 2006. She remains the primary suspect in his disappearance.

The young mother taped a phone interview for Grace’s show after her son went missing. According to the lawsuit, Grace and her producers deliberately represented the reasons for the interview. According to the Eubank family attorney Jay Paul Derataney, “Within minutes of Melinda’s phone interview, it became quite obvious that Nancy’s questions weren’t about finding Trenton at all, but rather about impliedly accusing Melinda of murdering her beloved son.”

Melinda shot herself in her grandparents’ closet just hours before the interview was set to air. Her parents are seeking unspecified damages and funeral expenses.

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In Maryland, the mother of a 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police on August 12 has hired an attorney and is claiming that his death was a wrongful death situation.

Baltimore police say that Officer Roderick Mitter shot and killed Kevin Cooper outside his home in Southwest Baltimore after Cooper hit him and threatened him with a jagged, broken broom handle. Police say that Cooper’s mother, a state correctional officer, had called police, told them that her son was assaulting her, and asked police to come to her home on Font Avenue.

Officer Mitter says that he first tried apprehending Cooper, who was assaulting him, with Mace. He alleges that the boy then moved toward him with the broom handle, so he shot Cooper on the shoulder.

The family of a Brooklyn man who was shot and killed by a police officer in Baltimore earlier this month say that they plan to file a wrongful death suit.

Ernest Oliver, 39, was shot in the 600 block of Roundview Road in Cherry Hill on August 5 after he allegedly fled the scene of a suspected drug deal. Oliver was shot multiple times by Police Officer David Diener. Police say that Diener saw Oliver reach for his pockets and thought that his life was in danger. Oliver was pronounced dead after he was taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Drugs, but no weapon, were found on him. Police are continuing to search for a weapon in the area where he was apprehended.

Oliver’s relatives say that police used excessive force to apprehend him. He leaves behind four children and a fiancé. Oliver had been arrested previously on drug charges, robbery charges, possession of a deadly weapon, and battery.

The parents of Connor Freed, a 5-year-old Davidsonville boy who drowned at the Crofton Country Club, are suing the club and DRD Pool Service, Inc, the Hunt Valley-based company that trains the club’s pool staff, for $20 million. The wrongful death lawsuit claims that there was not enough properly trained staff at the pool when their son drowned on June 22.

The complaint says that there was only one lifeguard at the pool that day and that this person allegedly froze when an unidentified woman pointed out that a boy was floating facedown in the water. After the boy was pulled out of the water, two different lifeguards are said to have improperly performed CPR on him. They also neglected to use the club’s defibrillator to revive him. During a 911-recorded phone call, a lifeguard can be heard telling the 911 operator that they are not allowed to use the club’s electronic device.

Freed was taken to Anne Arundel County Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The lawsuit, filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, alleges gross negligence and claims that the boy would not have died if there had been enough properly trained people at the pool that day.

A Maryland family recently filed a $5 million dollar wrongful death suit against Air Ag Inc. and its owner Robert J. Collins for the death of Edward Louis Brittingham in June 2003. The lawsuit claims that Brittingham died after he was exposed to Warrior, a highly toxic pesticide, when the Delaware-based aerial pesticide application company sprayed it onto a wheat field near a residential area in the city of Berlin.

The suit, filed on June 8 in Worcester County on behalf of Brittingham’s widow and five children, alleges that Air Ag Inc. and Collins were negligent because they “knew or should have known that the pesticide being applied was highly toxic and would cause serious injury including death if improperly or negligently applied.”

Causes for filing wrongful death suits in Maryland include: