Forman Perry Attorneys Secure Defense Win for Trucking Company in Dallas
DALLAS, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A Dallas County jury has issued a take-nothing defense verdict in favor of a Texas-based trucking company and its driver in a lawsuit stemming from a 2004 traffic accident that claimed the life of a Dallas woman and resulted in serious injuries to her infant daughter.
Releah McAuley was killed on Dec. 1, 2004, while driving on Interstate-35 near Dallas when her vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer owned and operated by D&T Trucking of Aledo. Ms. McAuley's 15-month old daughter survived the accident after suffering a severe head injury and numerous fractures and lacerations.
Ms. McAuley's family filed suit in Dallas County's 193rd District Court based on claims that D&T failed to properly maintain the rig, and that the company's driver, Thierry Shuri, failed to take proper evasive action.
In defending the company, attorneys Andrew Fifield and Kyle Steele from the Dallas office of Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy presented evidence that another driver had struck the tractor-trailer, causing Mr. Shuri to lose control of his tractor-trailer before crashing through a concrete median and landing on top of Ms. McAuley's vehicle.
"Our accident reconstruction expert demonstrated that Mr. Shuri was driving safely and had less than two seconds to react to the initial impact. He did everything he could to regain control of his 18-wheeler," says Mr. Fifield, lead defense counsel. "The facts proved that D&T and the driver could not have prevented this terrible tragedy."
Testimony during the trial indicated that another driver, William Roe, was driving erratically through heavy traffic before striking the tractor-trailer near its right front wheel. Mr. Roe was arrested immediately after the accident and tested positive for marijuana use. He is serving an eight-year prison sentence based on charges related to the accident.
In their verdict delivered on Oct. 5, 2010, jurors voted 10-2 to clear D&T and the driver of wrongdoing, finding that Mr. Roe was completely responsible for the accident.
Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy is a national trial firm focusing on tort, environmental and commercial litigation. The firm is home to more than 85 attorneys in Jackson, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and New Orleans who have represented clients in state and federal courts across the U.S. for more than 20 years. More information is available at http://www.fpwkt.com.
For more information contact Barry Pound at 214-559-4630 or [email protected].
SOURCE Forman Perry
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