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Recent Cases | Verdicts & Settlements
DOOLY JURY AWARDS $1.25 MILLION TO WIDOW, CHILDREN.
BY PEGGY KING
VIENNA — Three and a half years ago, an Abbeville, AL man lost his life in a fiery automobile/log truck crash in Quitman County. Last Friday, a Dooly County civil jury awarded his widow and their three children $1.25 million in damages.
Attorney for the plaintiff, Michael W. Slocumb said the award was made late Friday afternoon as a result of evidence presented in the case involving the death of David Dozier, a log truck driver who was 35 years old at the time.
Dooly Superior Court Clerk Betty Colter said this award is the largest ever granted in Dooly County to her knowledge. She said the judgment came against Video Warehouse Inc. and a former employee, David Glen Lee who lives at 134 Drayton Lane in Vienna. Video Warehouse will be responsible for 60% of the award, and Lee, 40%, Ms. Colter explained.
According to evidence presented during the trial, Lee who traveled for Video Warehouse Inc. in his capacity as a maintenance employee was in Quitman County near Georgetown when he hit the truck driven by Dozier. He was reportedly on his way to work in Eufaula, AL at the time of the wreck.
On impact, the log truck burst into flames, and Dozier inhaled hot gas and suffered internal burns before he died, according to testimony at the trial.
Expert witnesses who reconstructed the accident found Lee at fault, Slocumb said. Experts also testified that Lee was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the accident on Dec. 15, 2005.
“Our contention,” Slocumb said, “was that Video Warehouse Inc. was negligent in hiring and retaining Lee. He had been arrested for DUI prior to being hired, and since his employment he had had several other driving offenses.”
Video Warehouse Inc. reportedly had obtained consent from Lee to conduct a background check prior to his employment, but no one ever followed through with that check.
Lee continued to work for the company some six months after the accident, then he was dismissed “until the conclusion of the suit,” Slocumb said. “He has been prosecuted in Quitman County for vehicular homicide,” the attorney added.
Jay Smith, an attorney for Video Warehouse, said he would make no comments on the outcome of the trial. A company spokesperson in Douglas also declined to comment, but she did reiterate that the Video Warehouse location in Cordele has no affiliation with the corporation involved in this suit.
Colter said the jury considered the fact that this 35 year old man would have had at least 30 more working years had he not been killed and that he experienced extreme pain and suffering before dying. Furthermore, he left behind three young children.
Dozier’s wife at the time of the accident had brought the suit on behalf of herself and the couple’s three children who were ages 7, 10 and 12 when the accident occurred.
LAW SUITS FILED AGAINST LYMAN WARD MILITARY ACADEMY
Eight lawsuits have been filed against Lyman Ward Military Academy, all alleging abuse of former students.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Michael Slocumb with Walton Law Firm in Auburn, said the abuses range from severe beatings to verbal and mental abuse.
"Every case is different," he said. "But the premise of all of them is the same. There is a clear lack of adult supervision and the older cadets run the school."
All the allegations occurred during the fall of 2002, but Slocumb believes the abuse at the school has been going on for years and continues now.
Officials at Lyman Ward declined to comment on the lawsuits, but the school's attorney, Thomas Radney, said proper discipline measures are taken when there are incidents and the school denies any wrongdoing regarding the lawsuits.
"It's a military school that has a strict chain of command modeled after the U.S. military," he said. "When incidents do occur, as they do in all schools, the hierarchy of command, that includes the employees of the school, takes appropriate steps. We vehemently deny any wrongdoing or any knowledge of inappropriate conduct."
But parent Suzanne Blinkenstaff of Helena, said her son, Ethan, was treated so badly while at the school, she withdrew him after just a few months.
Blinkenstaff is one of the parents who filed suit against the academy. Her son, who was 12 at the time, started at the school in August of 2002.
She said she noticed her son seemed quite and withdrawn when he visited home, but she didn't realize why until she visited him that October.
"We went to visit him at homecoming, which was Oct. 5 (2002), and we witnessed first-hand the things we had suspected," she said. "Basically there were a lot of cadets walking around with casts on, black eyes and bruises. At that time, we decided to withdraw him."
Blinkenstaff said her son is doing better now and is able to talk about his time at Lyman Ward more, but it's not a topic that's easy for him.
She said he's told her about abuse from older cadets as well as school employees, but his are minor compared to some of the other alleged cases of abuse.
"There's one incident involving (former cadet) Shaun Brown," he said. "He was up there from 2002-2003. On Sept. 27, 2002, the allegations are that he was kicked repeatedly up and down the football field. He was stepped on and cursed. He began to vomit and they made him roll around in it. This all occurred in a course of 45 minutes. I have statements from I would guess 10 to 15 students who witnessed this."
Slocumb said another student was beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized, and one student allegedly had holes drilled in his hands by older cadets.
"They said they were going to make him look like Jesus," Slocumb said. "So they drilled holes in his hands with an electric drill."
Slocumb said the stories of abuse go on and on. He said they originally started with three lawsuits, and now there's eight and he expects more to come.
While many parents have shared stories of alleged abuse of cadets at the academy, Slocumb said some don't feel comfortable taking part in a lawsuit. But Blinkenstaff said she felt she had to do something.
She said she explored other options first and tried talking with school officials, but she said she was ignored.
"There is not a boy today that should have to endure what these boys have endured," Blinkenstaff said. "My main motivation is to get the word out that this happens, and that they (Lyman Ward) have misrepresented themselves."
Lyman Ward Military Academy is a private, non-profit military school housing grades sixth-12th. About 130 cadets are currently enrolled coming for all over the United States and other countries.
The school is more than 100 years old, and Slocumb said his goal is to shut the school down to put a permanent end to the alleged abuse at the school.
"In my opinion it's the culture of the school. It's a fundamental breakdown in the organizational structure," he said. "Ultimately our goal is to see Lyman Ward's doors close so no other cadets have to suffer the abuse these others suffered."
FAMILY FILES SUIT IN SLAYINGS
An attorney representing the estate of Antonio Boggan is suing the owners of the nightclub in which Boggan was shot to death.
"Today we have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners, Doney Roy Stewart and Edie May Stewart. This is a civil lawsuit and therefore we claim damages of $10 million," Montgomery attorney Michael Slocumb said.
The plaintiff in the case is Oletha Boggan, Antonio's mother. The suit alleges that the Boggan's wrongful death was in part caused by lack of adequate security at Doney Roy's, also known as The Night Spot.
"There were known felons in the club at the time of the shooting that shouldn't have been there," Slocumb said. "There were assault rifles that were permitted into the club that shouldn't have been there and therefore the club is responsible for the actions taken against Antonio Boggans."
The police department has not indicated the presence of assault rifles in the club and Slocumb could not elaborate further.
"I don't want to comment on the evidence that I've got at this point," Slocumb said. "I have complete confidence in the lawsuit we filed. I'm confident in the evidence we have."
The suit also includes the still unknown shooter who actually killed Boggan.
"I'm confident in the City of Selma Police Department and Robert Jacobs as they conduct an independent investigation into this matter," Slocumb said.
Police spokesman Sgt. Joe Little said the investigation into Boggan's killing is still ongoing.
Boggan, and convicted killer Robert Fails were shot and killed early Sunday, Nov. 2 when the club erupted in gunfire. A total of 10 people were shot in the incident.
Police arrested one of the victims, Cornelius Ford, and charged him with the killing of Fails and the wounding of two of the other victims.
Fails was killed just weeks after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the Nov. 2, 2003 killing of Erick Huntington.
Attempts to reach the Stewarts for comment on the lawsuit were unsuccessful.
WOMAN, 97, INJURED IN SCUFFLE SUES GROCERY
A 97-year old West Point woman has filed a lawsuit against Givorns supermarket for injuries she received during a scuffle between the meat manager and a shoplifting suspect.
The incident occurred on May 31 after Lizzie Mae Malone and her 69-year-daughter, Lizzie P. Mathes, had finished shopping at the West Point store and were standing outside during a rainstorm.
The store employee came out "wrestling and fighting" with a suspected shoplifter and pushed him into Malone, who was knocked to the ground and suffered a broken ribs and a broken wrist, said the women's attorney, Michael Slocumb of Auburn, Ala.
"She was knocked unconscious and was bleeding from the chin" he said Tuesday.
Malone was taken by ambulance to Lanier Memorial Hospital in Valley, Ala., and her health has deteriorated ever since, Slocumb said.
He said the meat manager saw a man trying to steal two T-bone steaks by stuffing them into his pants and tackled the suspected theif inside the store, but the struggle continued outside.
A Givorns employee said no one was available to comment on the suit Tuesday.
The lawsuit was recently settled for an undisclosed amount of money. "Ms. Malone is very please with the settlement and can now continue living a long and prosperous life", Slocumb said.
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