Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh L.L.P. Announces $124 Million Texas Verdict in Colorado Van Crash
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Dec. 7, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Corpus Christi, Texas-based trial law firm Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh L.L.P. is announcing a jury verdict of more than $124 million in actual damages for family members and victims of a 2005 van crash in Colorado.
A jury in the 327th District Court in El Paso County, Texas, unanimously found that El Paso-based Los Paisanos Autobuses Inc. and van driver Heriberto Flores-Garcia were responsible for the October 10, 2005, crash on Highway 76 near Denver. Two people were killed and five others were injured when the van traveling at 70 m.p.h. slid from the road in snow and slush before flipping over and striking a concrete embankment.
Attorneys Craig M. Sico and David E. Harris of Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh represented the estate and family of Teresa Lozano Acevedo, who was thrown from the van and died approximately two hours later.
The jury found that Los Paisanos Autobuses and the driver were negligent for failing to properly maintain and operate a safe vehicle. Jurors heard testimony that Mr. Flores-Garcia was eating and driving too fast for the snowy conditions, and that the van had bald tires and non-working seatbelts that weren't accessible to passengers.
"Los Paisanos showed no regard for the lives of these passengers," says Mr. Sico. "The van had bald tires, didn't have working seatbelts and was driven nearly 200,000 miles in just two years."
"When buying a ticket for a van or bus trip, we expect that all rules and regulations have been followed," says Mr. Harris. "This case shows that too often those rules are broken, and we're hoping this verdict sends a clear message to the entire industry so this doesn't happen to another family."
The verdict was issued Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, following four days of trial and less than four hours of jury deliberations. The award in Acevedo, et al. v. Los Paisanos Autobuses Inc., et al., No. 2005-8265, is the 12th largest in the nation in 2010, according to information published by Bloomberg.
Mr. Sico and Mr. Harris represented plaintiff Albino GaytanPina, individually and as the representative of the estate of the late Teresa Lozano Acevedo. Dennis Richard and Reagan Sahadi of the Corpus Christi-based Wigington Rumley Dunn, LLP, represented Josefa M. Ocana, as representative of the estate of the late Ascencion Ramirez Caraveo. Raul Steven Pastrana of the Austin-based Pastrana Law Firm represented Roberto Pacheco, Ariosto Manriquez, Manuel Parra, and Maria Aguilar, individually and for the minor Juan Carlos Ramirez. Joseph Isaac of El Paso-based Scherr& Legate, PLLC, represented Magdelo Borrego-Lares.
Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh L.L.P. represents clients in complex cases involving vehicle crashes, tire defects, defective products, refinery incidents and workplace accidents. More information can be found at http://www.swbtrial.com/.
For more information on the verdict, please contact Mary Flood at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].
SOURCE Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh L.L.P.
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