Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog

As a Missouri car accident attorney, I was interested in a recent story in the Kansas City Star about a wrongful death lawsuit resulting from a police chase that killed an innocent bystander. The parents of Christopher Cooper, 17, settled their lawsuit against the Independence (MO) Police Department and Medevac MidAmerica Inc., an emergency response provider, for $275,000. This is an important case because, as I discussed last week, it emphasizes that police officers need to exercise care when they respond to emergencies, lest they cause danger and damage rather than protecting the public from it.

In the accident that led to the Independence wrongful death lawsuit, an Independence police officer was pursuing a driver who was fleeing the scene of a collision with another car. Christopher Cooper was crossing the street on a bicycle when he was struck by that driver, Wilfredo J. Pujols Jr. of Independence. Pujols is a cousin to St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols. He pleaded guilty in December 2008 to second-degree murder, resisting arrest and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. At the sentencing, Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate described Pujols's actions as "horrific," and acknowledged the Cooper family's "incalculable" pain. But to the Coopers, the criminal case against Pujols did not resolve the problem of what appeared to be a pattern of police chases in Independence that risked public safety. In the fall of 2007, there were three deaths resulting from police chases in Independence within a ten-day period. Two of those killed were the people who were fleeing from the police, and the third was Christopher.

In their wrongful death lawsuit, Christopher's parents alleged that the Independence police shared the blame for Christopher Cooper's death because they had not followed the city's pursuit policy. They also alleged that, along with other emergency personnel, police failed to properly assess his injuries and made demeaning remarks at the scene of the accident. As a St. Louis car wreck lawyer, I could see the demeaning remarks that these emergency workers allegedly made as evidence that they weren't taking the situation very seriously, even though a young man's life was at stake, and ultimately was lost. The police could have chosen to deal with Pujols differently. Rather than chasing him when he fled from the scene of the first accident he caused, they could have alerted other officers to catch up him further down the road, or arrested him at his house later on. Instead, they chose what had already been shown, within the last few days, to be a dangerous course.

Continue reading "Independence Police Department Settles Wrongful Death Suit from Police Chase" »

As a southern Illinois car accident lawyer, I took note of a recent news item in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch concerning an Illinois state trooper who pleaded guilty to two counts each of reckless homicide and aggravated reckless driving. Matt Mitchell, 31, was responding to a call when he lost control of his patrol car while driving at 126 mph. Mitchell was also sending and receiving emails 2.5 seconds before the crash, and had been talking on his cell phone prior to that. Jessica Uhl, 18, and Kelli Uhl, 13, of Collinsville, were driving home from a photo shoot when Mitchell's patrol car plowed into them and set their car ablaze. The young women died at the scene. Christine Marler, who was pregnant at the time, and Kelly Marler, both of Fayetteville, Ark., were injured in a third car.

Mitchell was on duty at the time of the crash, and is now the first Missouri state trooper ever to be convicted of reckless homicide for an on-duty wreck. By pleading guilty, Mitchell avoided a trial that could have gotten him up to five years of prison time for the four charges. Instead, Mitchell will be on probation for 30 months. The Illinois State Police put Mitchell on paid leave during the case and will likely fire him. The agency has also set new policies to rein in the speed at which officers can drive, require them to use hands-free phones, and keep the patrol car's video recorder on whenever the car's emergency lights are in use. The Uhl family is pursuing a separate wrongful death lawsuit against both Mitchell and the state of Illinois. A detail of that case nearly held up Mitchell’s plea deal, but has since been smoothed out. A hearing in the civil case was scheduled for April 19.

As a St. Louis car crash lawyer, I am glad that the State Police is making changes to ensure public safety. Police officers are given greater privileges than other drivers -- the right to speed and break some other traffic laws -- in order to respond to emergencies. But those privileges come with greater responsibility to drive carefully. Mitchell's driving was clearly careless and reckless, even if he was responding to an emergency. His speed may or may not have been appropriate for the situation, but it’s unlikely that he needed to use his phone or email while responding. And even people who don’t support restrictions on cell phone use while driving can probably agree that it is not safe to use a phone at 127 mph. As a result of that recklessness, two young women are dead and Mitchell’s career as a law enforcement officer is likely over.

Continue reading "Illinois State Police Officer Gets Probation for Car Wreck That Killed Two Girls" »

A police officer and a restaurant in Sunset Hills have settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the families of four people killed by a drunk driving crash on March 21, 2009. The officer, Christine L. Miller, is accused of driving drunk on the wrong side of the road while she was off duty, crashing into a car full of five students originally from India. The crash killed Anusha Anumolu, 23, of Charleston, Ill.; Satya Subhakar Chinta, 25, of Aurora, Ill.; Anita Lakshmi Veerapaneni, 23, of Charleston; and Priya Muppavarapu, 22, of Charleston. Also injured was the driver, 28-year-old Nitesh Adusumilli of Balwin, who recently returned to work. In addition to the lawsuit, Miller is also facing criminal charges including four counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault.

The settlement means Miller and O'Leary's Restaurant & Bar have agreed to $331,375 to each family. Most of the money will come from O'Leary's, whose employees allegedly served alcohol to an intoxicated Miller and allowed her to drive afterwards. Miller then turned the wrong way down Dougherty Ferry Road in Sunset Hills and smashing into the passenger side of the students’ Honda, which was turning right. This settlement ends claims from the families of the four students who were killed, but Adusumilli has filed a separate personal injury claim as well, and that claim continues. Miller’s next court date in her criminal case is April 22. She is on unpaid suspension from the Sunset Hills Police Department.

As a St. Louis car crash attorney, I wish these families the best as they continue to grieve and heal after this tragedy. Drunken driving is inexcusable for anyone, of course, but alcohol-serving establishments in Missouri also have a responsibility not to serve alcohol to a minor or to a “visibly intoxicated person.” This was part of the argument made in the lawsuit against Miller and O'Leary's, which argued that both parties were negligent. According to police, Miller's blood-alcohol content was 0.169%, more than double the legal limit of 0.08%, three hours after the crash. The suit also claimed that the restaurant's employees knew Miller was drunk, kept serving her alcohol despite her slurred speech and unsteady gait, and did not stop her from driving or call her a taxi when she was ready to leave. If true, these allegations clearly show negligence by the restaurant, as well as by Miller.

Continue reading "Off-Duty Police Officer and Bar Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit after Drunk Driving Crash" »

Last week, I wrote about the sad story of a ten-year-old girl who was killed by a potentially defective all terrain vehicle (ATV). As a Missouri ATV accident attorney, I was disheartened to see that this week in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that another person has been killed by an ATV, and his passenger was seriously injured. Day Alexander, 39, of Festus, Mo., was driving the 2002 Yamaha Raptor ATV at the intersection of Berry and Lake Timberline Roads in St. Francois County. The ATV slid across Berry Road and ran off the right side of the road, causing its undercarriage to strike the ground. Alexander lost control of the ATV and hit a log. The ATV flipped over, throwing Alexander and his passenger, Sarah Barrett, 30, of De Soto, Mo., to the ground. Alexander died at the scene of the crash. Barrett was gravely hurt and taken to a hospital by helicopter. The accident report did not specify whether the riders wore helmets.

The 2002 Yamaha Raptor is a four-wheeled ATV that weighs nearly 400 lbs. Sports magazines touted it as "aggressive" and lauded its "high performance" when it came on the market. ATVs like this can reach speeds of 80 miles per hour. Crashes at this speed in passenger automobiles often have quite serious consequences, and that's with the benefit of seat belts, air bags, and other safety features. ATVs have none of these safety features, and people often ride them without safety gear like helmets, which is completely legal for adults in Missouri.

Unlike the case I wrote about last week, the people involved in this case were adults, so they were physically large enough and old enough to ride the ATV in the way for which it was designed. But even then, they apparently found it hard to control the ATV. The US government advises against riding ATVs with a passenger or on pavement because both of these things can make it hard to control the ATV. Having a passenger makes it hard for the driver to shift his or her weight in any direction needed in response to the ATV's movement, and ATVs are more difficult to control on paved roads. This may be what Day Alexander and Sarah Barrett discovered when they lost control of their ATV. As a St. Louis ATV crash lawyer, I continue to be saddened that ATV manufacturers build vehicles that cannot keep their riders and passengers safe even when they are used according to the manufacturer's guidelines.

At least 282 Missourians have lost their lives on ATVs, and countless more have suffered serious injuries that were never reported. That's a lot of families hurt because of these vehicles. When a crash was caused or worsened by a design or manufacturing flaw in the ATV, manufacturers can be held responsible for injuries that come from it. A southern Illinois ATV accident attorney at the Lowe Law Firm can review the details of particular ATV crashes and tell you whether an ATV manufacturer could be held liable for failing to ensure that the ATV was safe for consumers.

Continue reading "‘Aggressive’ ATV Claims One Occupant’s Life, Seriously Injures Another" »