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ST. LOUIS, MO
A 14-year-old girl injured in an accident with a truck on Highway 60 sued the truck
driver and the trucking company that employed him.
On Jan. 18, 2000 Toni Flood of Fairland, Okla., was on her way to a national cheerleader
competition in St. Louis. She was a passenger in a van along with six other people.
As the van was making a left-hand turn in Newton County, it was hit by a truck driven
by Richard Holzwarth, who was at the end of a run from California to Missouri. The
truck driver contended that the van driver failed to keep careful lookout in making
the left-hand turn.
Flood suffered a closed head injury and was flown to a local hospital in a Life-Flight
helicopter. CT scans and a PET scan showed injuries to her brain. Flood spent nine
days in the hospital, including six in intensive care. After her release she went
through 4 1/2 months of physical, occupational and speech therapy. She continued
to suffer a change in personality with mood swings and depression, and also had
left-sided weakness.
The defendants argued that Flood made a total recovery. They had a surveillance
video showing her playing junior varsity and varsity basketball and also cheerleading.
Furthermore, they said that her IQ scores before and after the accident were the
same, and that her grades even went up afterwards.
Finally, the defendants contended that Flood did not see another doctor until eight
months after she was released from therapy, and did so only on the advice of her
attorney.
The defendants rejected Flood's settlement demand and prejudgment letter offering
to settle for policy limits. But six months before trial the defendants offered
policy limits after discovering that the driver was on methamphetamine at the time
of the accident, and the trucking company president pleaded guilty to charges of
possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Flood rejected the offer and
proceeded to trial.
The case was tried on the issue of damages, since the defendants admitted liability.
After a seven-day trial, the jury awarded compensatory damages and punitives. The
court added prejudgment interest.
Type of Action: Automobile accident
Type of Injuries: Closed head injury
Court/Case No./Date: Lawrence County Circuit Court/302-309-CC/Feb. 5, 2004
Caption: Flood, et al. v. Holzwarth, et al.
Judge, Jury or ADR: Jury
Name of Judge: J. Edward Sweeney
Verdict or Settlement: verdict
Allocation of Fault: 100 percent to defendant
Attorneys for Plaintiff: Ed Hershewe, Alison Hershewe and Teresa Kenney, The Hershewe
Law Firm, Joplin
Insurance Carrier: Sentry
Plaintiff's Experts: Dr. F. Rollin Bland, Grove, Okla. (family practitioner); Dr.
William Havins, Joplin (psycholoigst); Dr. Melvin Karges, Joplin; Dr. Ken Krueger,
Prairie Village, Kan. (economist); Dr. Christopher Meoli, Joplin (radiologist);
Dr. David Preston, Prairie Village, Kan. (radiologist); Wilbur Swearingen, Springfield
(vocational rehabilitation); Dr. Cherylon Yarosh, Joplin (neurosurgeon)
Defendant's Experts: Dr. Tara Spevack, St. Louis (neuropsychologist)
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