A Jasper County jury returned a $135 million verdict [I reported earlier that it was $130 million, then $235 million] today in the case against Ford Motor Co. involving the death of New York Mets prospect Brian Cole. I am not sure whether there were punitive damages.
Update: I am confident now that the verdict was in the $130’s. See the comment by the plaintiff lawyer.
Update: reports are now that the verdict was all compensatory and the case settled before the punitive phase.
Two earlier trials in the case resulted in mistrials. I am not positive, but I think that this case is so old that the tort caps do not apply. Update: the case was filed in 2001. The caps do not apply.
For prior posts on the case see here, here, and here.
Read the Plaintiff attorney’s blog on the verdict here.
I will have more on this verdict in a future post.