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Posts tagged: wrongful death
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — The parents of a College of Southern Idaho baseball player and Coeur d'Alene High School graduate killed in a fatal crash last September have filed a
wrongful death lawsuit against others involved in the accident.
Devon Austin (pictured) was a passenger in a car that crashed while allegedly being chased by another vehicle after a party.
The 19-year-old Austin and the driver of the car, 18-year-old Ryan Reinhardt, were killed.
The driver of the second vehicle, Kade Laughlin, has been charged with reckless driving.
The Times-News reports that Tim and Paula Austin, along with Jessica Duran, the crash's lone survivor, filed their lawsuit June 3. They name Laughlin, Reinhardt and three others as defendants. They claim the defendants were involved in the car chase while under the influence of alcohol.
They are asking for $50,000 in damages.
Nearly five years after he died in a fiery crash, the family of Daren Lafayette should know soon who, if anyone, is responsible and how to compensate the family for his loss.
The jury began this morning deliberating the case that included three weeks of testimony about what happened Sept. 12, 2006, on the highway construction site on Flowery Trail Road near Chewelah when a work truck began rolling downhill toward waiting cars.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The adoptive siblings of a 7-year-old boy who died of starvation in the care of his adoptive mother can't sue for wrongful death, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled today.
The e
state of Tyler DeLeon (pictured) had filed wrongful death claims against the boy's primary care physician and his psychiatrist and also alleged they were aware of the boy's injuries but failed to report them under the state's mandatory reporting law.
The high court affirmed a Spokane County Superior Court decision to dismiss a portion of the case against Dr. David Fregeau, the Rockwood Clinic, and psychiatrist Sandra Bremner-Dexter. But the Supreme Court said the doctors could be sued for failing to report the abuse.
The state Department of Social and Health Services and three employees also were sued, but the agency separately agreed to pay more than $6 million to Tyler's estate and other foster children in a 2008 settlement.
Tyler weighed only 28 pounds when he died Jan. 13, 2005, the day he turned 7. His adoptive mother, Carole DeLeon, was sentenced to six years in prison after entering a plea to criminally mistreating Tyler and another boy in her care. She was released last year after serving half of her sentence.
The lawsuit on behalf of the boy and his adoptive siblings cites an extensive history of abuse complaints and health concerns regarding foster children at the DeLeon home, including broken bones, knocked-out teeth and withholding of food and water.
Tyler's adoptive siblings are considered second-tier beneficiaries under the state's wrongful death law, which means they can recover damages under that law only if they were dependent upon him for support. Their lawsuit against the doctors argued that they did depend upon him because DSHS provided $717 month in adoption support to Carole DeLeon for Tyler.
The doctors argued, and the Supreme Court agreed, that Tyler's estate and his adoptive siblings were not financially dependent upon them. The high court said “DSHS provided separate payments to Carole DeLeon to supplement her support of other children in her home.”
“I knew that we had a tough case it make, but I thought it was worth the effort since I think not compensating Tyler or Tyler's estate for what he suffered through is just wrong,” said Allen M. Ressler, a Seattle attorney representing the plaintiffs. “The legislation as written right now makes no sense to me.”
Justice Gerry L. Alexander concurred with the majority opinion, signed by eight justices, on the issue of whether the siblings were qualified to bring wrongful death claims. But he dissented with his colleagues on whether the doctors could be sued for failing to report child abuse or neglect.
The majority said the mandatory reporting law doesn't explicitly provide a civil remedy against a practitioner who fails to report suspected abuse but said it was implied as a means of enforcing the reporting duty. Alexander said the conclusion contradicts what the Legislature intended, which was to make it a misdemeanor crime to report child abuse.
A wrongful death suit filed against a Spokane man who served 27 months in prison for the dragging death of a college student has been settled for $1 million, lawyers announced today.
Jerid Sturman-Camyn, 20, died Nov. 24, 2007, after Wendell C. Sinn Jr., 46, of Newman Lake, tied a noose around his neck and attached it to the back his truck, then ordered his son, Justin Sinn, to drive away.
Wendell Sinn (left) entered an Alford plea to second-degree manslaughter in September 2008, meaning he admitted no guilt but acknowledged he could be found guilty if taken to trial. He was sentenced to the maximum penalty, 27 months in prison.
The elder Sinn claimed self-defense and said Sturman-Camyn, an Eastern Washington University student, had been threatening Justin Sinn, who was not charged in the case, and other campers.
Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor denied a motion for summary judgment in the case on April 27.
Sturman-Camyn’s mother, Koni Buell, an elementary school teacher in Silverdale, and his stepfather settled the lawsuit with Justin Sinn’s insurance company, according to John Christensen, an attorney with the Messina Bulzomi Christensen law firm who represented Buell.
A portion of the settlement will go to the Jerid Sturman-Camyn Athletic Memorial Fund, which was created by his parents and the Klahowya Secondary School to assist children who can’t afford to participate in school sports.
The fund has helped more than 50 children with participation fees, supplies, shoes, uniforms and sports physicals. Donations to the fund can be sent to Karen Varnum at Klahowa Secondary School, 7607 NW Newberry Hill Rd, Silverdale, WA 98383 or by calling the school at (360) 662-4000. The family also is sending a portion of the settlement money to help victims of violent crimes.
Past coverage:
Sept 23, 2008: 27 months in dragging death
Nov. 28, 2007: Dragging victim ‘out of control,’ official says
Reporter Meghann Cuniff writes about public safety news from the Inland Northwest and beyond.
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