$29 Million Verdict

Dear NONE,

A Shelby County jury took a stand against errant trucking companies yesterday when it returned a verdict in the amount of $29 million for a Columbiana woman who lost her husband in a truck wreck. It is believed to be the largest civil jury award of its kind to emerge from what is generally considered to be a very conservative jurisdiction.

The wrongful death case stemmed from a wreck on Alabama Highway 70 on June 14, 2002, in which Timothy Robbins, Sr., was killed.  Robbins' pick-up truck was struck head-on in his lane of travel by a dump truck driven by defendant Danny Hendrix and owned by Hendrix's employer, Hardway Hauling and Contracting, Inc.

According to David Marsh, who tried the case, the evidence was that the wreck was caused by a combination of driver inattention, speed, out-of-repair brakes on the dump truck and driving under the influence of methamphetamine.

Marsh says, "I told the jury their verdict needed to make a statement, it needed to serve the purpose of punitive damages and be big enough to prevent similar wrongs".  According to Marsh, the evidence was that Hardway Hauling did little or no maintenance on the dump trucks it put on the Shelby County roadways.  Even worse, Hardway Hauling never drug tested its driver Hendrix.  Marsh argued that the trucking company failed to follow federal safety regulations when it did not give Hendrix a drug test that would have revealed he was a binge user of methamphetamines.

The jury deliberated 1 1/2 hours before delivering its record verdict.