South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Federal regulators set a safety threshold Friday for the industrial chemical melamine that is greater than the amount of contamination found so far in U.S.-made infant formula.

A passenger train smashed into a sedan that drove into its path in central Florida on Friday night, killing three people in the car, authorities said.

Two men and one woman died when the Amtrak train hit the car around 7 p.m. in Orlando, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Miller said. A fourth passenger, 22-year-old Victor Carillo, was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.

Killed in the crash were 22-year-old driver Walter Martinez and 19-year-old passenger Cristina Rosa, authorities said. The other victim’s identity wasn’t immediately disclosed, pending family notification.

None of the 185 passengers or crew on Train 92 from Miami to New York were hurt, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. The train was delayed more than two hours but then continued on its trip.

The car drove past the crossing’s lowered gates into the path of the train, the patrol said. The gates’ flashing lights and bars were functioning properly.

The impact launched the car into the air, and it landed about 200 feet away near a warehouse parking lot. The vehicle smashed into a parked semi-tractor trailer and overturned.

The 2,000-pound top section of a palm tree has crashed through the roof of downtown Los Angeles home, and two women sleeping inside had minor injuries when they were showered with drywall and debris.

The crown of the 40-foot palm smashed into the home’s roof just before 3 a.m. Wednesday. City fire spokeswoman Melissa Kelley says it’s not clear why the top of the palm suddenly broke away, but rainstorms had swept through the area overnight.

One of the women was trapped by debris in one bedroom and a fire department rescue team was called in to get her free. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

A 55-year-old woman sleeping in another room was apparently struck in the head by broken drywall and was taken to a hospital for examination.

On April 17, 2007, plaintiff Teresa D. Green, 51, was terminated from her position as a hospital activities director at the Las Flores Convalescent Hospital in Gardina, allegedly for failing to supervise an injured patient. She had worked at Las Flores, which operated as Liabco, LLC, for more than 20 years.

On March 30, Green went on a work-related errand, and while she was away, a wheelchair-bound patient went to an outside patio to smoke and severely burned himself by lighting his beard on fire.

Green sued Las Flores and owner/administrator Liab Greenspoon, alleging that her termination partly resulted from her refusal to lie about the patient’s injury to the California Department of Health Services. Green claimed that the agency was investigating the patient’s injury and Greenspoon asked her to lie about the circumstances.

Green asserted that, since new management took control in January 2006, patient care and safety were deteriorating and residents and their families were complaining.

She further alleged that her termination was direct punishment for her complaints of sexual harassment by another individual in the activities department.

Las Flores denied that allegations, asserting that Green fabricated everything, and that she was responsible for the patient’s burns.

Green alleged depression and emotional distress.

She claimed loss of income because she was unemployed for 10 months and was then forced to take a position with a lower salary and no benefits.

The jury was asked to decide upon liability and punitive damages.

The jury awarded Green $2,474,172 in compensatory and punitive damages.

Teresa D. Green

$1,237,086 Personal Injury: Punitive Exemplary Damages

$59,166 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$177,920 Personal Injury: FutureLostEarningsCapability

$750,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering

$250,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering

Motions for attorney fees and costs are pending.

A widow whose husband died at a Veterans Affairs hospital under fire for substandard care has agreed to settle her lawsuit against the government for $975,000, her attorney said.

Katrina Shank had sought $12 million in her federal wrongful-death lawsuit. Her husband, 50-year-old Robert Shank III of Murray, Ky., bled to death in August 2007, a day after undergoing gallbladder surgery at the VA hospital in Marion, Ill.

Shank’s widow claimed the government failed to sufficiently check the background of her husband’s surgeon, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, before hiring him in January 2006.

Veizaga-Mendez resigned three days after Robert Shank’s death, and major surgeries were ordered halted there after inspectors attributed several patient deaths to questionable surgical care.

Terms involving Katrina Shank’s settlement were not disclosed in court documents, though an e-mail to The Associated Press by one of her attorneys, Stan Heller, put the amount at $975,000.

A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with spokesman for the national VA. According to an order by U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert, the settlement becomes final after 90 days unless it hits a snag.

The VA found at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March 2007 were “directly attributable” to substandard care at the hospital. Those deaths did not include Robert Shank, who died months later.

The VA’s findings do not put the sole blame on Veizaga-Mendez, but Shank’s lawsuit said many or all of those who died were his patients.

At least one other lawsuit involving care by Veizaga-Mendez at the hospital is pending. James Marshall, 61, of Benton, Ky., died of a blood infection in July 2007, six days after Veizaga-Mendez performed a lymph node biopsy. His widow, Darla Marshall, is seeking $10 million in damages.

Veizaga-Mendez, who is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuits, has no listed telephone number and has not responded to repeated messages left by the AP at a Massachusetts home listed as an address for his wife.

Police say four men were killed when a huge Christmas tree they were erecting fell on top of them.

Police say they are investigating what caused the 120-meter (395-foot) aluminum tree to collapse on Monday.

Police said Tuesday that the tree was scheduled to be lit up in the northeastern city of Aracaju on Friday.

They did not know how much the tree weighed.

The widow of a smoker who died from lung cancer brings the nation’s biggest cigarette producer to court this week in the first trial spawned by a Florida Supreme Court ruling that decreed smoking is dangerous and addictive and causes disease.

But before Elaine Hess can benefit from the landmark decision in the wake of the death of her husband, Stuart, plaintiffs lawyers must prove the late smoker would have been part of a class of sick Florida smokers that was disbanded by the 2006 court decision.

The state’s high court tossed the largest verdict in U.S. history and decertified the class of an estimated 700,000 smokers. But the majority allowed former class members to file individual complaints without having to reprove jury findings that cigarette companies are liable and knowingly placed defective products on the market.

Nearly 8,000 cases were filed by a deadline set by the state Supreme Court — half of them are pending in state court, the other half in federal court.

The Broward Circuit Court case filed by Hess on behalf of her late husband is the first to go to trial under the new ground rules.

Jury selection began Monday with prospective jurors either filling out questionnaires or explaining hardships that would prevent them from serving in a three-week trial. Almost two-thirds of the first batch of nearly 75 jurors said they were unable to serve.

Opening statements are planned for next Monday.

Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld told the jury pool that the case would be over by Dec. 19. He previously told lawyers he never had a jury go past an estimated end time and it is impossible for the trial to reconvene in January.

Attorneys around the state are paying close attention to the trial against cigarette market leader Philip Morris.

This trial already looks different from what plaintiffs attorneys expected. With shared jury findings in hand from the original Engle v. Liggett trial in Miami, plaintiffs lawyers hoped for a streamlined process of expedited trials that would last about a week per plaintiff.

But Streitfeld, who is overseeing more than 360 of the so-called Engle progeny cases, split the trial into three phases. The jury will be asked first if Hess was addicted to cigarettes and if that addiction led to his death.

If the jury finds against Stuart Hess, the trial is over.

If the jury agrees with his widow, the Engle findings would be disclosed and compensatory damages would be determined. A third phase would set punitive damages.

However, the two sides reached an impasse over what could be introduced to prove addiction.

Plaintiff lawyers want to present evidence showing Philip Morris hid information that nicotine was addictive and smoking was dangerous. They claim Philip Morris will attempt to demonstrate Hess chose to smoke cigarettes, despite knowing of their dangers and his doctor’s advice to stop smoking.

But Philip Morris claims that information doesn’t belong in the first phase because evidence like internal memos would demonstrate intent and belongs in later phases on damages.

In a hearing Friday, defense lawyer Kenneth Reilly contended the first phase should determine only whether Stuart Hess met the medical criteria for addiction.

“Whether Mr. Hess would have acted differently if he had different information … can’t be known at this point,” Reilly said. “It won’t answer the question of whether he was addicted. The questions are: What did he do, and why did he do it?”

Reilly, in Miami, contended his client’s conduct does not belong in the first phase.

“I’m not in Phase 1 accusing Mr. Hess of any misconduct whatsoever,” he told Streitfeld. “That is absolutely not what I’m going to do.”

Paige told the judge he doesn’t believe that to be true based on depositions taken in the case.

Streitfeld decided he couldn’t offer an advance road map for the trial.

“Until I do at least of couple of these, it will be hard to give you guidance,” he said. “Until it unfolds in the courtroom, it is a shot in the dark.”

The unusual history of the smoker cases has attorneys around the state anxious to see how the Hess case plays out in the first of what is expected to be a long line of trials.

Plaintiffs attorney in West Palm Beach, Fla., who has other Engle progeny clients, said people will be watching the Hess case as much for the process as for the result.

“Judges around the state are wringing their hands for how to deal with the number of cases that are clogging up their division,” Warriner said.

Even Streitfeld seems to be doing his fair share of hand-wringing.

“I don’t recall ever reconsidering as many issues in the 18 years I’ve been laboring at this,” he said last Thursday. The Hess trial was initially consolidated with a second plaintiff, but he decided last week to hear Hess only.

Until Thursday, it appeared Streitfeld would exclude much of the plaintiff’s evidence from the first phase.

But he made it clear that if the issue of smoker choice was in play, he would allow the plaintiffs to show what the tobacco industry knew that Hess didn’t.

“If the purchaser of a product was aware of the same information that the manufacturer of the product had, would that purchaser make the same choice?” Streitfeld said. “Is that fundamentally not a fair analysis?”

He said he must weigh relevance and potential prejudice.

In Hess’ case, he started smoking when he was 13 and chain-smoked two to three packs of cigarettes a day, mostly the Philip Morris products Benson & Hedges and Marlboro. Attempts to quit failed, and he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1996. He died less than a year and a half later.

The individual lawsuit was filed by Elaine Hess, his wife of 32 years.

The plaintiffs attorneys contend his smoking history makes him part of the class action filed in 1994 on behalf of a retired Miami Beach physician with emphysema. The trial started in 1998 and lasted nearly two years. The case ended when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Florida Supreme Court decision last fall.

Plaintiffs in individual cases hoped they could present the Engle findings — that smoking causes a number of diseases and is addictive — at the start of each trial and ask for damages.

Streitfeld decided to keep information about the class findings until a jury decides whether the plaintiff is part of the class.

In an interview, Reilly said he expects the trial to end before the question of damages comes into play.

Paige said in an interview: “The fact that the defendant knew cigarettes caused lung cancer for decades is important. Had my client known what they had known, he would have had an opportunity to quit or at least try harder.”

Paige said it is obvious that Hess was addicted to smoking, and the addiction led to his death.

“If [the defense] can convince the jury that Hess is not a class member, then no one is a class member,” Paige told Streitfeld last Thursday, noting Hess bummed cigarettes from people when he was in the hospital.

Although the Hess case is the first to go to trial since the Florida Supreme Court ruling, it is not the first trial since the Engle case went to trial as class action.

Class member John Lukacs filed an individual suit in 2001 shortly after the Engle verdict and before the umbrella case was decided by the appellate courts.

Lukacs died before trial. His attorney in Miami, won a $24.8 million verdict in 2002. He said the trial adhered to the Florida Supreme Court directives even though it came before its ruling.

“The whole purpose of the class action in the first place is to get all of the preliminary, common sense issues resolved and off the table,” Gerson said. “All you would have to prove is that I was addicted or I am addicted, and I have an Engle disease and live in Florida. The trials should be simple.”

He said the tobacco companies are attempting to complicate the process.

Cigarette makers have thrown a monkey wrench into the nearly 4,000 cases pending in federal court. A Jacksonville federal judge tossed out the Engle findings, ruling they deprived the tobacco industry of due process, and the question is pending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Gerson, who represents clients in other Engle progeny, said the pending Lukacs appeal and the Hess trial could affect future tobacco cases.

“What happens here will move the ball up or down the field in someone’s favor,” he said. “I don’t think any final outcome will be decided no matter what happens in the first group of trials. There have to be a dozen or so before it really takes a real direction, and there have to be appellate rulings.”

A man living in Bellevelle, Illinois filed a personal injury lawsuit against another Bellevelle resident claiming he suffered serious injuries in an auto accident caused by the defendant.

Doug E. Gerold claims he was driving northbound on South Illinois Route in Bellevelle Nov. 3, 2006, when another vehicle, which was making a left turn out of a parking lot, collided with him. According to the lawsuit, the driver, Todd Barham, smashed into Gerold’s car, leaving him with serious injuries.

Illinois Auto Accident Caused Serious Injuries

According to Gerold, in addition to traumatic physical injuries, he suffered the following losses after the accident:

• Seriously and permanently diminished
• Suffered serious physical pain
• Mental anguish
• Disordered and disabled
• Hefty medical expenses
• Lost benefits and wages
• Lost ability to engage in everyday activities

Man Blames Defendant’s Negligence for Personal Injuries

Gerold has named Barham as a defendant in the Illinois personal injury suit, claiming his negligence and recklessness resulted in the auto accident. The lawsuit alleges Barham was negligent, because he:

• Failed to yield the right-of-way
• Failed to keep a proper look out for other vehicles
• Failed to avoid a collision by breaking or swerving
• Engaged in reckless, careless driving

Gerold is seeking sums in excess of $50,000 to cover his physical and emotional losses. He is also seeking financial compensation for attorney fees and the total cost of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed Oct. 31 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Wednesday marks the start of the busiest travel time of the year, and travelers driving the Florida Turnpike can take a coffee break for free.

From Wednesday through Sunday, a cup of coffee at eight Turnpike service plazas across the state is free.

Organizers said they want to encourage drivers to take a break when they start feeling tired.

The complimentary coffee is available at the following times:

     6 p.m., Wednesday, November 26, to 6 a.m., Thursday, November 27

Some are questioning why a car burst into flames when a veteran Hollywood police officer crashed it into a tree over the weekend and died.

Hollywood Police Chief Chad Wagner had the full attention of roughly 100 members of his department on Monday as he personally updated them on the investigation into the death of Officer Alex Del Rio and how the agency plans to say farewell.

“Everybody is grieving,” Wagner said. “It’s a rollercoaster ride. Everyone’s trying to figure it out.

Some want to know why Del Rio’s Ford Crown Victoria exploded into a ball of flames when it slammed into a tree on Sheridan Street on Saturday night, trapping the 31-year-old officer inside.

The answer might not be hard to figure out.

“It’s got the gas tank located behind the rear axle,” an attorney with knowledge of the case has said. “It’s a relatively unprotected zone.”

He called Ford’s design of the Crown Victoria “defective” because the gas tank is in the area of the car designed to absorb the impact in a rear-end collision. Since 1993, more than two-dozen officers around the U.S. have been killed in Crown Victoria explosions, and dozens more have been severely burned, Local 10’s Roger Lohse reported.

In 2003, after a flurry of lawsuits, Ford began making the police model of the Crown Victoria with a special shield to protect the gas tank from being punctured by the rear axle.

Del Rio’s cruiser was made in 2005 and presumably had the shield, but his cruiser hit the tree sideways.

“That shield can protect fuel systems at a 75-mph rear-end impact. There are still places where other things can get through and puncture the tank,” the attorney .

Many agencies have fitted their Crown Victorias with special Kevlar boxes in the trunks so their equipment can’t puncture the car’s gas tank in a crash, but that still leaves the sides of the tanks exposed.

In a written statement to Local 10 on Monday, a spokeswoman for the Ford Motor Co. said the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor “has a proven track record as a safe vehicle for high-risk police work. Police have greater exposure to accidents because of the unique ways in which they use their cars. The accidents … have occurred at speeds well beyond the design capability of any vehicle on the road.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration looked into issue several years ago. It said the Crown Victoria passed its safety test because it didn’t explode in collisions in which the impact was 35 mph or less.