South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Fifteen Philadelphia police officers have been taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked and beaten by city police.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter says the mayor stands behind the police department but his first glance of the video does appear to show the officers overstepping their authority.

The video was shot Monday night by WTXF-TV. It shows three police cars stopping a car on the side of a road.

The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle and pulling three men out. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground. Both are kicked repeatedly, with one of the two apparently struck with a baton. Punches were also thrown.

The third man is also kicked and ends up on the ground.

An 18-wheeler carrying fruit and juices overturned on U.S. 27 Thursday morning, shutting down the southbound lanes of the road about 8 miles from Interstate 75.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the tractor-trailer was driving south when it drifted onto the shoulder of the road. The driver of the truck overcorrected and the truck flipped, FHP said.

The tractor-trailer completely blocked all southbound lanes, and its contents were scattered all over the road.

Southbound traffic was redirected into some of the northbound lanes as crews worked to clean up the debris.

The truck’s driver, John Downey, 51, of Kissimmee, was not hurt, FHP said.

The State Highway Patrol says a truck and a school bus have crashed in central Ohio. About four children have been take to a hospital.

Troopers say the injuries in the crash Wednesday morning don’t appear to be life threatening.

The accident occurred near Norton, about 30 miles north of Columbus.

No other details were immediately released.

On Sept. 11, 2003, plaintiff Edgar Eduardo Barrera, 31, an oiler, was working in the Oregon Inlet off the coast of North Carolina on a dredge owned by Weeks Marine Inc., Cranford, N.J. He allegedly tripped and fell.

Barerra sued Weeks Marine, alleging that he fell as he was attempting to grease a piece of equipment. He claimed that weather conditions at the time were too rough for work, and that the deck was slippery and not properly painted.

Weeks Marine denied liability, claiming that the weather was average and the deck was in good condition. Defense counsel claimed that Barerra told a coworker that he fell while trying to jump over a cable, and that he had given conflicting stories about the accident.

Barerra alleged a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee, both of which required surgery. He alleged a permanently weakened knee, and that he was unable to continue working offshore. He claimed that this resulted in a severe drop in his potential future income.

Barrera was seeking an unspecified amount for past and future pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost income.

Weeks Marine disputed the lost income, claiming that he left his job for personal reasons unconnected to his injury. Defense experts claimed that Barrera’s knee was fully healed and he could return to offshore work without restrictions.

The jury found that Weeks Marine was 70 percent liable and that Barerra was 30 percent responsible.

The jury awarded $1,403,000, which was molded into $982,100 after liability apportionment.

Edgar Eduardo Barerra

$53,000 Personal Injury: Past Medical Cost

$60,000 Personal Injury: Future Medical Cost

$100,000 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$340,000 Personal Injury: Future Lost Earnings Capability

$350,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering

$300,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering

$100,000 Personal Injury: past cure

$100,000 Personal Injury: attorney fees

Holloway-Schuberg claimed that she sustained a herniated disc at L5-S1, a neck sprain and a subcutaneous nerve injury to the left side of her face. She was taken to Lompoc Hospital Emergency Room by ambulance, where she underwent X-rays and was released. She claimed post-traumatic stress disorder, and that the nerve injury caused facial numbness to the left side of her face. On June 14, 2007, she underwent L5-S1 microdecompression surgery. She underwent physical therapy and chiropractic treatment, and received cervical and lumbar injections. She claimed continuing neck and shoulder pain, low back pain and left facial numbness. Her doctors testified that her injuries are chronic and that she will need future medical care. She claimed that she lost half of her clients due to an inability to work.

Holloway-Schuberg sought $108,383 for past medical expenses, $45,980 for future medical expenses, $47,751 for past lost earnings, $281,270 for future lost earnings, $312,268 for past non-economic damages, and $420,000 for future noneconomic damages.

Defense counsel disputed the nature and extent of Holloway-Schuberg’s injuries and damages.

The jury returned a $1,137,249 verdict for Holloway-Schuberg.

Pennie Holloway-Schuberg

$108,383 Personal Injury: Past Medical Cost

$37,100 Personal Injury: Future Medical Cost

$35,000 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$250,000 Personal Injury: FutureLostEarningsCapability

$286,766 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering

$420,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering

Post-trial, the verdict was reduced by a $31,573.05 Hanif reduction. Holloway-Schuberg’s costs and expert fees were approximately $20,000.

Ford Motor Company will officially announce an automobile recall of 64,754 of its 2008 F-250 and F-350 trucks due to potential fire hazard in late May.

The trucks do not conform to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard imposed to maintain “fuel system integrity” and prevent fuel leaks, according to federal regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA warned on its Web site that single-rear-wheel versions of the trucks with 4-wheel drive and the 156-inch wheel base, equipped with a two-piece drive shaft contain a fuel tank system that can rupture or leak in a crash.

“During a 30 mph frontal impact into a rigid barrier, the fuel tank can move forward and contact a frame cross member, potentially causing damage to the fuel delivery module which can result in fuel spillage,” according to the NHTSA Web site.

The agency warns that fuel spillage in the presence of an ignition source can start a fire.

Ford dealers will install a bracket in the recalled trucks to fix the safety concerns. The recall number is 080C04. For more information truck owners can contact Ford directly at 1-800-392-3673 or NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153).

Just before the tornado sirens sounded, school superintendent Floyd Marshall got the warning from police - a twister was coming right for the town’s elementary and high school.

But Marshall had a weapon of his own: Unlike most other schools in Arkansas, the two Carlisle schools have specially designed interior hallways - dubbed tornado-safe rooms - where 750 students cowered until the storms passed by Friday.

“You may never need it, but that one time that you do that you don’t have it, it’s something you can’t recover from,” Marshall said.

The tornado eventually veered away from the shared campus of the schools at the last moment, but Gov. Mike Beebe acknowledged the importance of the rooms on a visit to the city Monday.

“I’d like to see them everywhere. I’d like to see them as much as possible,” Beebe said. “But at this juncture, we’re not in a position to mandate them everywhere, unless you have the money to be able to give them to everybody.”

Julie Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Education, acknowledged that many schools throughout the state do not have the safe rooms. She said officials do not keep a count of how many schools have them.

State law requires schools to hold tornado drills no less than four times per year during the months of September, October, January and February. However, state laws only suggest building the safe rooms.

But the state Legislature has set aside $456 million for a program to build and repair crumbling schools across Arkansas. Beebe said districts in line for the funding likely could use that money, or money set aside in federal government grants, to build the safe rooms.

“It doesn’t take a lot of encouragement because most of the school officials have been really conscious and proactive about building either safe rooms or hardened areas of their school buildings,” Beebe said.

Most of the storms, which meteorologists now say included 11 confirmed tornadoes, came Friday morning while schools were in session. That’s unusual since afternoon and evening storms often offer the best conditions for tornados to form.

The storms killed seven people in Arkansas. Beebe and other state officials flew by helicopter to see damage Monday in Carlisle, Earle and Greers Ferry. The governor recounted seeing a pontoon boat wrapped around a tree and other devastation on his trip.

Maj. Gen. Bill Wofford, commander of the Arkansas National Guard, said about 60 guard members remained on duty Monday in tornado-damaged areas. He said the Guard would begin a slow drawdown Wednesday as police take over security.

Meanwhile, officials continue to assess damage throughout the state since an outbreak of severe weather began Feb. 5, said David Maxwell, director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. As floodwaters continue to recede in eastern Arkansas and the possibility of more storms loom later in the week, Maxwell acknowledged a final tally of the destruction remains elusive.

“The expenses will go on for months and months and months,” he said.

An EPA official says there’s a “distinct possibility” the agency won’t take action to limit a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that has contaminated drinking water supplies around the country.

Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency, told senators Tuesday that EPA believes the contaminant - perchlorate - poses developmental health risks. But he says that after years of study EPA has not determined whether regulating perchlorate would meaningfully reduce that risk.

Senators accused EPA of foot-dragging. The agency has faced pressure from the Pentagon, which could be liable for clean-up costs.

Perchlorate has been found in at least 35 states and is widespread in the Southwest.

The parents of a brain damaged young boy have settled a birth injury lawsuit against the University of Virginia Medical Center for $1.35 million. At the time of the boy’s birth, malpractice awards were capped at $1.6 million.

David and Elizabeth Morris will use the money to pay for the cost of caring for their son Hunter, who suffered oxygen deprivation at birth.

Caring for Cerebral Palsy

According to the lawsuit, the doctors at the medical center failed to respond in a timely manner to Hunter’s deteriorating condition while still in the womb. He now lives with permanent brain damafge and cerebral palsy as a result.

The estimated lifetime cost of caring for Hunter is $9 million, well above state caps on medical malpractice damages.

An Iraqi man sued two U.S. military contractors, claiming he was repeatedly tortured while being held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison for more than 10 months.

Emad al-Janabi’s federal lawsuit, filed Monday in Los Angeles, claims that employees of CACI International Inc. and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. punched him, slammed him into walls, hung him from a bed frame and kept him naked and handcuffed in his cell beginning in September 2003.

Also named as a defendant is CACI interrogator Steven Stefanowicz, known as “Big Steve.” The suit claims he directed some of the torture tactics.

Phone messages left for Arlington, Va.-based CACI and New York City-based L-3 Communications, formerly Titan Corp., were not immediately returned Monday. There was no phone number listed for Stefanowicz at his Los Angeles address.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles because Stefanowicz lives there, seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The firms provided interrogators or interpreters to assist U.S. military guards at Abu Ghraib, which became notorious when photos made public in early 2004 showing U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating detainees. Military investigators later concluded that much of the abuse happened in late 2003 - when CACI and Titan’s interrogators were at the prison.

CACI and L-3 were accused of abusing Abu Ghraib prisoners in earlier lawsuits. In November a federal judge in the District of Columbia dismissed the suit against L-3 but allowed the one against CACI to proceed.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday in Istanbul, Turkey, al-Janabi said he hopes the lawsuit sheds light on what happened to him and other detainees.

“God willing the righteousness will emerge and God willing the criminal will receive his punishment,” al-Janabi said.

Al-Janabi, 43, said he was detained by U.S. troops during a late-night raid in which he and his family were beaten by their captors. He said he was taken to a military base where he was stripped naked, a hood was placed on his head and his hands and legs were chained.

“They (U.S. troops) did not tell me what was the reason behind my arrest … during the interrogation, the American soldier told me I was a terrorist … and I was preparing for an attack against the U.S. forces,” said al-Janabi, who denied the accusation and claims he was forced to give confessions under “savage” intimidation.

The lawsuit also claims the contractors conspired in a cover-up by destroying documents and other information, hid prisoners during periodic checks by the International Red Cross and misled military and government officials about what was happening at Abu Ghraib.

Al-Janabi was released in July 2004 and wasn’t charged with any crime, according to the lawsuit. He also was forced to form a human pyramid in the nude with other prisoners, according to the lawsuit, but his Philadelphia-based attorney Susan Burke said it wasn’t known if he was in the infamous photo that became public.

“Most of this conduct was repeated on more than one occasion,” Burke said.

At one point after passing out, al-Janabi said, he was told by an L-3 translator “welcome to Guantanamo.” He said he even asked a cellmate whether he could see the ocean from a window.

“I lost the sense of time after the prolonged hours of abusive interrogation and thought that I was transported to Guantanamo,” al-Janabi told the AP.

The Abu Ghraib photos drew international criticism about the way detainees were treated and damaged the U.S. military’s image in Arab countries. Eleven U.S. soldiers were convicted of crimes at the prison, which was closed and transferred to Iraqi control.