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$15 Million Judgment for Wrongful Death Motor Vehicle Crash

Amount: $15,000,000
Plaintiff’s Counsel: Jeffrey M. Heller

The Defendant, age 54, was diagnosed with epilepsy at two years old. He was prescribed anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and remained medication compliant throughout his childhood and early adulthood. In his late 30s, because he was seizure-free, he stopped taking medication.

In the early 2000s, he was involved in a single-vehicle crash and taken to the ER by paramedics. While receiving treatment, he told doctors that the accident happened because he’d had a seizure while driving. Doctors immediately put him back on AEDs. About 10 years later, he had another seizure while driving and was involved in another single-vehicle accident. This time, the ER doctors suspended his driver’s license.

He was then required to obtain approval from a qualified doctor who would have to submit forms to the Ohio BMV on his behalf granting him permission to drive. This process occurred every six months for several years (during which he remained 100% seizure-free), until he was able to convince a doctor to grant him privileges so long as he “was taking his prescribed AEDs and seizure-free.” As soon as he obtained this permission, he stopped filling his AED prescriptions and began self-medicating with CBD. While CBD is recommended as supplemental therapy for certain types of seizure disorders, it was not indicated for the type of seizure disorder he had.

On July 17, 2021, the Defendant was driving his 13-year-old son home from karate practice when he suffered a seizure. He veered left of center at 45 mph and struck the Plaintiff, 19, and his fiancé, 19, head on. The force of the impact severed the Plaintiff’s left leg and broke his left arm in such a way that his wrist was touching his elbow when paramedics arrived. The Plaintiff was conscious and breathing for nearly 10 minutes before arresting in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The Defendant’s accident control module revealed no steering or pedal activity for more than five seconds before the crash.

The Plaintiff was survived by his parents and three siblings. He had recently graduated from vocational school and was working as a plumber’s apprentice. He spent his weekends volunteering for the homeless and recording gospel music.

Chardon city prosecutors charged the Defendant with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. The civil case stalled while the criminal proceedings went on. The Court granted a request to depose the Defendant, where he invoked his right to remain silent on nearly every question asked of him. Thereafter, Plaintiff’s counsel met with the prosecutor and was permitted to view the Defendant’s medical records in camera. The last record from the Defendant’s neurologist—four years prior to the accident—warned him that “not taking AEDs and driving was dangerous” and he would need to be on AEDs “for the rest of [his] life.” Plaintiff’s counsel, with obvious support from the family, attempted to get the case re-indicted as felony vehicular manslaughter. The Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office refused.

The Defendant ultimately pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. After being referred to probation for a pre-sentencing report, he tested positive for marijuana use. He was subsequently sentenced to 90 days in jail with 60 days suspended.

Counsel thereafter obtained all the Defendant’s medical records to formally amend the lawsuit to allege punitive damages. The Defendant was also re-deposed. The Defendant had a $100k/300k policy with Nationwide Insurance, which was tendered almost immediately after the crash, but which the Plaintiff refused to accept. Two weeks before trial, the Defendant—through insurance counsel and personal counsel on behalf of his real estate holding company—consented to a 15-million-dollar judgment. Within days, the estate perfected liens on all the holding company’s properties in Lake, Geauga, Cuyahoga and Horry (Myrtle Beach, SC) counties. All the properties, except for the Defendant’s marital home, are unencumbered. As part of the consent judgment, the Defendant and his holding company agreed to not file for bankruptcy.

Nurenberg Paris recently made a substantial donation to Empowering Epilepsy and a memorial for the Plaintiff is currently underway.

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