West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death Plaintiff’s Opening Statement

West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death Plaintiff’s Opening Statement

Good Morning. My name is ____________ and I am from and practice here in Springfield. Next to me is my co-counsel—also from Springfield. Together we represent Sharon Evans, Edward Gene Evans and Douglas Daniel Evans, the wife and minor children, respectively, of the late Fred Gene Evans who died as a result of the automobile collision you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will be hearing about. Sharon Evans is seated to my left. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will meet the children, Eddie Evans and Doug Evans. Eddie is now age 13 and Doug is age 11½.
For reasons I’m sure you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will understand, neither one of the children will be present in the courtroom during the trial and the introduction of evidence. Mrs. Evans will remain present during the trial although there may be occasions where I may ask her to leave during the presentation of certain evidence.
These proceedings all revolve around a two-car automobile collision that occurred on May 13, 2001, on U.S. Highway 71, between Lamar and Nevada, Missouri, at a point approximately seven miles south of Nevada. It was and still is a two lane highway where the collision occurred. Sharon’s husband Eddie (and Doug’s father), the late Fred Evans, was one of four occupants and was a passenger in the back seat of a 1992 Ford Station wagon, traveling in the southbound lane of U.S. 71 and driven by another of the plaintiffs, James Sims.
The other vehicle involved in the collision was a north-bound 1994 Toyota Coach. It is believed it was driven by a Kansas resident by the name of Herbert VanDeGriend and was also occupied by another Kansas resident by the name of James Schmitz.
This proceeding is really the trial of four separate lawsuits, each one of which has been brought by or on behalf of one of the occupants of the Ford station wagon, against the defendants. One of those four suits you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will be deciding on is that of Sharon and the children—their action is what is commonly known as a wrongful death claim in which it is alleged that they have suffered damages from the loss of their husband and father, Fred, who it is alleged was killed as a result of the collision.
Their lawsuit, as are all four of the suits you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear, is based upon three primary legal theories, about which the court will explain and instruct you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case later in the case.
First, we expect the evidence to show that the driver of the Toyota Coach, VanDeGriend, was negligent in the way he operated his motor vehicle in one or more of three ways: he was speeding, he was on the wrong side of the road, and he was intoxicated. His negligence in turn caused the collision and killed Fred Evans.
Many of you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case I’m sure are somewhat familiar in general terms with this legal concept of negligence as it relates to automobile collisions.
Second, we will show that, when the collision occurred, the Toyota driver and his passenger were agents or employees of the defendants, and they had been conducting business and were headed toward Nevada in the conduct of further business for and on behalf of the defendants in this suit which, it is contended, makes the defendants legally responsible or liable for their negligence acts. This involves or alleges a legal theory known as the law of agency or, in the Latin legal phrase, “Respondent Superior,” which means “Let the master answer for the acts of his servants.” You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case may not be as familiar with this legal theory as you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case are with the theory of negligence, but we expect the judge will later explain this theory more fully to you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case and instruct you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case as to what law in this regard to apply to the facts you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case decide.
Third, as a result of the wrongful death of their father at the hands of the defendants’ agents or employees, Sharon and the children have suffered, and will continue to suffer in the future, certain damages or losses for which compensation is sought from the defendants. Essentially those losses consist of:
(1) The loss of the benefit from Fred Evans’ employment and earnings and income;
(2) The loss of the benefit of the services he provided them with around the home;
(3) The loss by Eddie and Doug of his training, guidance, and education which he provided them; and
(4) The cost of medical and funeral bills which were caused to be incurred and paid for by his last illness and death.
Finally, they ask that in the event a verdict is returned for them for their damages, the court determine and divide among the three of them, what the court considers as a fair division of those losses, considering all the circumstances. This is required under the law so that there is legal assurance that the minor children receive what is justly their portion of those losses and Sharon receives what is justly her share of the losses, and it also provides legal assurance that any amounts given to Eddie and Doug, as minors, will be protected until they are old enough to actually receive the money.
The presentation of our evidence during the trial of this case may be likened to looking at the various pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; bits and pieces may be introduced in what may appear to you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case as a random fashion. At times the evidence may involve rather tedious details which may not appear to necessarily have any great significance by themselves. Let me assure you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case though, from our standpoint, each of these separate pieces supplied by us will fit into the final picture in the end and will play an important part in that overall final picture.
Once all the evidence has been presented, it will be you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caser duty as jurors to take all of the pieces of the puzzle and sort through them and fit those pieces together in a logical, sensible fashion, and come up with the final picture of the puzzle—you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caser verdicts in each of these three claims. We expect the court to instruct you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case that you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case must use only the evidence presented during the trial as pieces of the puzzle and that you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case may not supply you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caser own pieces of the puzzle. However, we expect the judge will also instruct you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case to draw reasonable inferences and conclusions from the pieces presented to complete the picture and arrive at you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caser verdicts.
From the standpoint of Sharon, Eddie and Doug, and the other plaintiffs as well, the final picture will consist of these three primary parts I mentioned a moment ago:
(1) The collision and the negligence of the driver of the Toyota;
(2) The agency and business relationship of the defendants and the occupants of the Toyota; and
(3) The damages sustained and which will be sustained in the future by those affected by the collision.
It is upon these three subjects that all of the evidence will focus in one way or another.
The first two areas of the puzzle—the areas of negligence and agency—Mr. Blair and Mr. Moore have already covered in some length. All of the various plaintiffs are relying on essentially the same pieces of the puzzle in this regard. Therefore, I’m not also going to cover those two areas in my opening statement to you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case.
What I do want to spend my remaining time on is the third area—the damages or losses sustained by Sharon and the children.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will, throughout the presentation of our evidence in this regard, come to know quite a bit about the late Fred Evans, as well as what happened to him in this collision and why he died. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will see what he looked like in life, what kind of a person he was, what his employment earnings were, how he supported his family, and what kind of relationship he had with Sharon and his children.
In relating these events and facts, you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will also learn considerably more about Sharon and the children and the quality of family life they enjoyed with Fred.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear Fred Evans’ life story unfold with his birth on March 14, 1968. He was at the time of his death, a you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caseng 33 years old. Today he would have been 37.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear how Fred grew up and graduated from high school at Bakersfield, Missouri, which is near West Plains, and that after graduating he immediately got a job, worked, and continued to work until the time of his hospitalization after the collision. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear that in 1990, when the opportunity arose, Fred went into training to become a meat-cutter. After successfully completing his training, he was immediately placed in charge of the meat department in a chain grocery store in Ava, Missouri, where he remained employed until the collision.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear that Fred was an honest, conscientious, dependable employee, with a definite future in his position at the time of his death and the opportunity to increase his earnings and to better his family’s standard of living.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear that Fred provided his family with a modest but steadily increasing income. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear that at the time of his death Fred Evans was earning, on the average, $1,580.50 per month, or the equivalent of $18,966.00 per year.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will also hear that during the period from 1990 to 1995, as a result of his hard work, Fred managed to steadily increase his average annual earnings each year by not less than 9% per year and during some years by as much as 17%, which the evidence will show, is much better than the national average annual income increase of 5.05% for all similarly employed workers in his occupation.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear the testimony of Mr. Clair Manson, a professional statistician and actuarian, who as a consultant to insurance companies, deals daily in determining the present value of both past and future loss of earnings, and in work-life expectancies of various people. He will testify that if you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case take Fred Evans’ lowest average annual wage increase over the period of his employment from 1990 to his death, which was 9%, and considering his age at the time of his death and his earning rate at the time of his death, and by accurate statistical calculation, based on proven statistics, compute the present value of the loss to Fred’s family of his earnings and earning power over his reasonably expected remaining work-life period, which would have been an additional 29.9 years from the date of his death had he not been killed, you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case would come up with a direct economic loss of earnings to Sharon and the children of $467,083. This includes $56,898 they have already lost since Fred’s death to the time of trial and which also includes $410,185 which they and particularly Sharon can reasonably expect to lose in the future from the date of trial until the date Fred would have probably retired in the year 2031 had he not been killed.
Mr. Manson will explain the basis of and validity of his calculations in this regard.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear about Fred’s physical condition before the collision. Fred had juvenile diabetes, which was being successfully treated and controlled with daily insulin shots and close watching of his diet. Otherwise, Fred was in normal physical health. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear Dr. C. F. Smith, Fred’s regular physician, testify that Fred’s diabetes problem had not, in the past, posed any significant health problems for him and would not have expected to in the future, had Fred lived. He will testify that his diabetes did not appear to interfere with Fred’s work and that Fred could reasonably have expected to work a normal work-life expectancy of other men his age, although his overall life expectancy might have been somewhat shortened because of his diabetes. In other words, Fred could have been expected to have worked as long as a normal, healthy individual his age without diabetes, although he may not have lived as long as the normal person without diabetes.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear how Fred and Sharon met, dated and, finally, married on May 31, 1990. At that time Sharon was 18 and Fred was 22. On April 21, 1991, Sharon and Fred’s first son, Eddie, was born, and on December 9, 1994, their second son, Doug, was born.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear how for 7 1/2 years, this family of four lived together as a family. Unlike many families today, you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear how the center of their lives together was each other.
Their only activities outside of work and school were family activities, in which their church and religion played an important role. They attended together the Black Oak Baptist Church in Ava, regularly on Sundays and Wednesdays, and also were active in church Bible quizzes, fellowship meetings, dinners, prayer meetings, and monthly singings.
They enjoyed other activities together such as bowling, which they did most Saturday evenings, and also fishing and camping on Lake North Fork. They also frequently attended family gatherings on both sides.
The boys grew from babies to you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caseng boys while Dad was around. They were just reaching the age of becoming you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caseng men when Fred was killed—Eddie was 13 and Doug 11-1/2. They enjoyed school, sports, fishing. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear evidence of the loss by Eddie and Doug of the training, guidance, and counseling their father provided them, to which we have assigned a value of approximately $136,400.00 for reasons which will be explained and illustrated later.
To both children Dad was a very important figure in their lives—and particularly to Eddie—the eldest boy. Doug had always done okay in school—Eddie not so well, although he had shown steady improvement in the years. Eddie had always been assigned to special education classes–he had a learning problem, which has hampered his educational and emotional development. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear one of Eddie’s teachers describe his problems and his dependence on his father who paid special attention to his problems, and why Eddie is not expected to be able to advance beyond high school special education courses. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear how both Sharon and Fred were concerned about Eddie’s problems and how they had planned for Fred to take Eddie into training in meat-cutting so he could learn at his own pace a profession which would support him once his parents were gone.
We expect the evidence to show that Fred was also good with his hands around the house and did most of his own home improvements and minor repair work around the house and on the automobiles. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear evidence that Sharon has suffered from Fred’s death and will continue to sustain in the future by virtue of Fred’s death a direct economic loss of the value of the household services that he contributed to the family, expense free, and for which she now has to pay someone to perform them and will in the future. You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear evidence valuing those services over the expected remaining work-life of Fred Evans, had he not been killed, in the approximate amount of $96,000.
We expect the evidence will be that, after the collision occurred and Fred was removed from the wreckage, he was taken first to a Nevada hospital and then transferred to Kansas City Research Hospital where he remained hospitalized most of the time in intensive care, until he died on July 4, 2001.
You, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will hear from one of the 8-10 doctors who treated him while in Kansas City describe his injuries and the operations they performed on him in an effort to save his life.
There will be evidence that Fred’s medical treatment, doctor bills, hospital bills, and funeral and burial expenses came to in excess of $63,900.00.
At the conclusion of all of the evidence, we will be asking you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case, and I am confident you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case will return, by the evidence presented, a substantial verdict in the range of $1,300,000 to $1,500,000 against the defendants and in favor of the plaintiffs, Sharon Edward and Doug Evans, to fully and completely repay to them the debt which is owed as a result of this tragic accident.
In conclusion, I ask only that you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death case listen to all of the evidence with a completely open mind and heart, and render you, a juror in thsi West Palm Beach car accident wrongful death caser verdict accordingly.