Brumfield Verdict Upheld
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. Since the accident, the plaintiffs have tried, in good faith, to settle the case with Tyson Foods. But after years of Tyson's low-ball settlement offers and failed settlement negotiations, Tyson lost at trial where the jury awarded over $7M for the death and pre-impact distress of a 22-year-old marine, survived by two parents and a brother.  Read More >>

$7 Million Jury Verdict Against
Tyson Foods in Ohio Truck Crash
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. The truck pushed the pickup backwards nearly the length of two football fields before it came to rest.  Read More >>

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

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 in Sumner County, Kansas, which killed their mother and critically injured her passenger.

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).  Read More >>

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.

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."

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."

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.

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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