Personal Injury
Motor Vehicle Accident
James Moore, a 27-year-old from Michigan, was critically and permanently injured in a motor vehicle accident in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Two tractor-trailers had been traveling on a two-lane road for several miles. James Moore and another man were in a pickup traveling in the opposite direction. The Kroger truck was the lead truck and was being followed by an empty log truck. The Kroger truck blocked the view of the log truck driver. The road was straight and flat and there were no obstructions that would impair the view of the Kroger truck. The Kroger truck was approaching a line of traffic that was slowing for a truck that was turning off the highway. Instead of slowing gradually, the Kroger truck waited until the last possible second to brake and then locked its wheels. The Kroger truck left over 300 feet of skid marks. The driver of the log truck, not seeing and not expecting emergency braking by Kroger, was too close to stop. The log truck started to jackknife into the opposing lane of traffic where Moore’s truck was approaching. The driver of the log truck attempted to avoid the oncoming Moore pickup by turning into the side of the Kroger truck. The log truck wedged under the Kroger trailer. The Kroger driver then let off his brakes and dragged the log truck into impact with Moore’s pickup. Moore received a closed head injury that left him unable to communicate or have any purposeful movement. John Booth Farese and George Dent tried the case. Farese had been associated by the Soper and Dent law firm of Tupelo to serve as lead counsel. The jury returned a verdict of $20,625,000 in compensatory damages against Kroger and the logging company. The verdict was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in an unpublished opinion. At the time of the judgment, this was the largest compensatory damage personal injury verdict in Mississippi jurisprudence. Moore v. Kroger Co., 800 F. Supp. 429 (6/29/92).
Slip And Fall
One of the most difficult cases to prevail on in Mississippi is a slip and fall situation. Mildred Goolsby injured her ankle when she approached the front door of Kentucky Fried Chicken in New Albany, Mississippi. Due to an indenture around a small drain she turned her ankle severely and fell. Goolsby filed suit against the chicken company and obtained a $66,000 jury verdict.
Wrongful Death / Government Immunity Doctrine Most states have passed immunity laws to protect the municipalities and counties. Their employees are generally protected from suit unless the employee acts wrongfully in their actions. A policeman chased a young teenager at over 100 MPH contributing to a head-on collision killing our client. Due to a thorough investigation of the evidence and after obtaining numerous witness statements, the case was settled in mediation for the maximum allowed by the Tort Claim Act.
