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Baum Hedlund Truck Accident Case News

October 31, 2007 Press Release - Brumfield Verdict Upheld.
October 31, 2007, Cleveland, Ohio - - A federal court judge in Ohio has delivered a strong rebuke to Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, denying their requests for a new trial or reduction of the verdict in a horrific truck crash caused by one of its drivers near Crestline, Ohio in 2004.  Read more 

$7 Million Jury Verdict Against Tyson Foods in Ohio Truck Crash

December 12, 2006, Cleveland, Ohio - - A jury has found Tyson Foods, Inc., liable for the death of Daniel Brumfield, 22, who was killed when a Tyson Foods truck driver hit Mr. Brumfield's pickup truck head-on, on a two-lane road near Crestline, Ohio, on May 29, 2004. The truck pushed the pickup backwards nearly the length of two football fields before it came to rest.

The jury deliberated for 2 1/2 hours before returning a verdict of $7,028,687. The trial began on December 6, 2006, and lasted 5 days in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division in Cleveland before Judge Donald Nugent.

$6 million of the award was for the wrongful death of Daniel Brumfield and $1 million was for the pre-death emotional distress suffered by Daniel, recognizing the tremendous suffering that he must have endured while watching the truck come straight toward him and then crush him.

This is a significant verdict since Daniel was a single man with no dependents. He was not financially dependent on his parents and neither they, nor his brother, were dependent on him for economic support. The value the jury found was purely for the loss of Daniel's comfort, society, love, and affection and for the grief that the family has suffered.

The case was tried by Ronald L. M. Goldman, senior trial counsel for Baum Hedlund, his partner and co-counsel Clark Aristei, and trial team member and partner Robert F. Foss.

Daniel Brumfield's parents, Mary and Steven Brumfield of Marion County, Ohio, and their son, Steven, are gratified that members of the community found that the enormous loss of Daniel had tremendous value.

ABOUT DANIEL BRUMFIELD: Daniel Brumfield was born in Marion, Ohio. He grew up in Ohio and graduated from Ridgedale High School in Morral, Ohio, in 2000. After high school, Danny immediately enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve where he served until the time of his death. Danny, only 22 years old, was single, never married, and had no children. At the time of his death, he lived in Marion, Ohio, ten miles from his parents and brother Steven, who all live in Morral.

FACTS OF THE CRASH: On May 29, 2004, at approximately 11:57 a.m., Daniel J. Brumfield was driving his pickup truck westbound on U.S. Route 30 near Oldfield Road west of Crestline, Ohio. At that time, Dale Friesen, in the course and scope of his employment with Tyson Foods, Inc., was driving a partially loaded 50,000 lb. 2003 Freightliner/semi-trailer combination eastbound at a speed of over 60 mph on U. S. Route 30. Route 30 is a two-lane rural road with a posted speed limit of 55 mph and marked passing and no-passing zones.

Mr. Friesen was traveling in the eastbound lane of U.S. Route 30 when he moved into the westbound lane in an attempt to pass two vehicles. While eastbound in the westbound lane, he hit Daniel Brumfield’s then stopped red Chevy pickup truck head-on, pushing the pickup backwards 562 feet from the point of impact to the point of rest. The pickup truck was crushed and still pinned to the front of the tractor-trailer when it came to rest.

ABOUT BAUM HEDLUND’S TRANSPORTATION DEPT: Baum Hedlund (Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.) has represented thousands of victims in airline, general aviation, bus, train and trucking accidents as well as defective pharmaceutical products. The firm has handled over 500 airline and general aviation accident cases and more than 230 commercial trucking, train and bus accident cases. The firm has litigated wrongful death and serious injury cases for over 30 years.

Children File Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Wrong-way Truck Crash -- Driver Recently Charged with Murder

Kansas City, Kansas, October 24, 2006 - - The four surviving adult children of Corinne Bartels, 64, filed a lawsuit today in Kansas U.S. District Court against three trucking firms and the truck driver responsible for the fatal crash on March 23, 2005, in Sumner County, Kansas, which killed their mother and critically injured her passenger.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed against Riley Transportation of Fort Worth, Texas (the owner of the truck tractor); Dynamex Operations East of Dallas, Texas (the motor carrier which was operating the truck); XTRA Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri (the owner of the flatbed semi-trailer being hauled by the truck tractor); and Steven Helinsky (the truck driver) of Texas, alleges the driver was negligent and reckless for driving in the wrong direction on an interstate highway and alleges the companies were negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of Helinsky and in the transportation of the goods on the truck. The family is seeking an unspecified amount of damages against these defendants.

The complaint filed today alleges that Helinsky drove southbound in the northbound lanes of I-35. The plaintiffs believe that the facts will show that Helinsky turned from U.S. 166 onto the exit ramp of northbound I-35 rather than onto the entrance ramp to northbound I-35. After realizing he was traveling in the wrong direction, Helinsky attempted an illegal U-turn across lanes of northbound traffic in the dark. He drove in front of Corinne Bartels, of Platteville, Wisconsin, who was driving a tractor-trailer combination owned by J&R Transport, Inc., northbound on I-35 near milepost 3.6 in Sumner County, Kansas, with a passenger in the sleeper berth of the truck. Corinne was transported to a hospital where she later died. Her passenger, Jim Beals, also of Wisconsin, suffered critical injuries.

Corinne Bartels, a mother of four and grandmother of eleven, was very dedicated to her family. She was looking forward to her upcoming retirement so she could spend more time with them.

Steven Helinsky was just recently charged with second degree murder, with an alternate charge of involuntary manslaughter, as well as two counts of aggravated battery for the injuries to the passengers in each truck (his own passenger was also injured). Helinsky’s previous driving record shows that in 1999 he violated speeding laws in the state of Ohio and failed to obey a sign or traffic control device in Tennessee. In 2000 he was cited for speeding in Georgia.

"My clients want to hold those involved, accountable for the death of their mother,” the family’s trucking accident attorney, Robert Foss of Baum Hedlund, said, “After 1½ years, I’m pleased to see that the driver has finally been criminally charged. The companies involved in the operation of this truck should take responsibility in the civil action for this senseless tragedy which took Corinne Bartels’ life.”

Corinne Bartels’ four children, Kelleen Konruff, of South Carolina, and Kathleen Bartels, Christopher Bartels and William Bartels, of Wisconsin, are suing for wrongful death damages and damages available to Ms. Bartels’ Estate.

AP Associated Press

Mother files claim over childrens' death on I-80 in Grand Island, Nebraska - The mother of a brother and sister killed in an accident on Interstate 80 a year ago has filed a claim against Hall County.

[Our client] alleges in the claim that a cause of the fatal accident was poor construction signage and warnings at the scene, [according to] her attorney, J. Clark Aristei of Los Angeles.

. . .The siblings were in a 1998 Honda Civic. . .which struck a stopped vehicle on the interstate before being run over from behind by a fully loaded milk tanker truck.

. . .The truck's driver. . .was charged in the deaths and faced. . .trial.

The Bakersfield Californian

Plaintiffs file at least three lawsuits in Kern County so far; state, J&R Farms among targets

. . .On March 27. . ., a big-rig on Highway 99 slammed into a prison van used by an inmate road cleanup crew, killing [our client's brother] and injuring a guard and nine other inmates.

Now, one year later, the court system has only begun to deal with how to assign blame for the crash.

A jury convicted the big-rig driver. . .

. . .The suit filed by relatives of [the victim] discusses the substance abuse issue but does not allege [the big-rig driver] was under the influence during the crash. But the issue could be relevant to possible negligence by J&R Farms, which is also named in the suit, said. . .family attorney Robert Foss. He said companies generally are held responsible for their workers' negligence, adding attorneys will further investigate company actions."

Modesto Bee

Tracy truck crash spurs wrongful death lawsuit

A Salida woman whose husband died in a Tracy traffic collision filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against a Wisconsin trucking company.

[The victim's wife] is represented by Baum Hedlund, a national commercial transportation accident law firm.

[The victim] was driving a pickup on Mountain House Parkway . . . when he crashed into a tractor-trailer making a U-turn in front of him . . .

"He did something that's clearly against the rules of the road, something that is so obviously dangerous to people on a highway," [a Baum Hedlund attorney] said Tuesday."

Tribune-Review

Couple hurt on turnpike sues Ohio trucking firm

A Maryland couple filed suit Thursday in Westmoreland County Court against an Ohio trucking firm and one of its drivers in connection with a three-vehicle accident in 2002 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Donegal interchange.

. . .the Washington, D.C. law firm of Baum Hedlund, which is representing the [victims]. . .contends [in their] suit that [the truck driver] was driving carelessly, recklessly, and at an excessive speed when the accident occurred.

"The force of the truck. . .pushed the [victims'] vehicle forward into the vehicle immediately in front of it. . . the complaint said.

Los Angeles Daily Journal

Family Sues Caltrans for Freeway Death

. . .A 15-foot-high fiberglass tank, weighing several tons, rolled off a tractor-trailer onto the freeway after it clipped a 14-foot, 9-inch overpass, then crashed into [our clients' son's] sports car.

. . .According to the complaint, the state agency, which is responsible for issuing permits for oversized loads, "negligently measured the height of the overpass, negligently inspected the overpass, negligently approved a 15-foot load to pass under the marked 14-foot, 9-inch La Palma overpass. . .

. . ."Caltrans is an agency that operates by tombstone," said [a] partner of Los Angeles' Baum, Hedlund. . . who is handling the case. "Nothing happens there until someone gets killed, even though it had ample warning of the problem."

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