Pennsylvania Verdicts

Amount:

$5,465,000

Type:

Verdict-Plaintiff

State:

Pennsylvania

Venue:

Lawrence County

Court:

Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas

Injury Type(s):

Case Type:

Motor Vehicle – Stop Sign; Transportation – Trucking; Motor Vehicle – Tractor-Trailer; Wrongful Death – Survival Damages; Motor Vehicle – Negligent Entrustment

Case Name:

Vickie McConnell and Mark A. McConnell, individually and as administrators for the Estate of Mark A. McConnell II, deceased v. Guru Global Logistics LLC, Howard Truckline Inc., Andrew V. Johnson and Chindra Singh,
No. 11225-10; 11354-09

Date:

December 19, 2013

Plaintiff(s):

Vickie McConnell (Female), 

Mark A. McConnell (Male), 

Estate of Mark A. McConnell II (Male, 22 Years)

Plaintiff Attorney(s):

Jeffrey B. Killino;
The Killino Firm, P.C.;
Philadelphia,
PA,
for
Vickie McConnell, Mark A. McConnell, Estate of Mark A. McConnell II

Plaintiff Expert(s):

Andrea McCollum;
M.D.;
Manner of Death;
Youngstown,
OH called by
Jeffrey B. Killino ■ Andrew Verzilli;
M.B.A.;
Economics;
Lansdale,
PA called by
Jeffrey B. Killino ■ Steven Schorr;
P.E.;
Accident Reconstruction;
Abington,
PA called by
Jeffrey B. Killino ■ Michael Napier Sr.;

Truck Industry Policy & Procedures;
Macon,
GA called by
Jeffrey B. Killino

Defendant(s):

Chindra Singh, 

Andrew V. Johnson, 

Howard Truckline Inc., 

Guru Global Logistics LLC

Defense Attorney(s):

Paul S. Guarnieri;
Malone Middleman, P.C.;
Wexford,
PA,
for
Guru Global Logistics LLC ■ Robert Grimm;
Swartz Campbell;
Pittsburgh,
PA,
for
Chindra Singh, Andrew V. Johnson, Howard Truckline Inc.

Defendant Expert(s):

Lawrence Ostrowski;
Vocational Rehabilitation;
Houston,
PA called by
Paul S. Guarnieri, Robert Grimm

Insurer(s):

Lancer Insurance Company for Guru Global Logistics LLC
National Casualty Insurance for Howard Truckline Inc.

On Aug. 18, 2008, plaintiffs’ decedent Mark McConnell II, 22, was operating a Chevrolet Cobalt coupe westbound on Main Street in Edinburg, when he entered the intersection of a private road, and his vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer operated by Andrew Johnson. The impact forced McConnell’s car to spin across the intersection where it crashed into two utility poles. McConnell later died from his injuries. McConnell’s parents sued Johnson and the owner of the truck, Howard Truckline Inc. In a separate suit, which was later consolidated with the initial action, the estate sued Johnson and Guru Global Logistics LLC, a trucking company alleged to be a controlling motor carrier for Johnson at the time of the crash. Prior to trial, the estate settled with Howard Truckline in an agreement involving confidential terms. (The company had a policy limit of $1 million with respect to the accident in question.) At a bifurcated trial, the estate’s counsel maintained that Johnson failed to heed a stop sign and two flashing red lights as he entered the intersection at a rate of speed of 26 miles per hour, when he collided into McConnell’s vehicle. Although McConnell himself was entering the intersection controlled by a flashing yellow light in his direction, at a rate of speed of 45 miles per hour (the posted speed limit was 35), the estate’s expert in accident reconstruction testified that even if McConnell had been traveling at the speed limit or 10 miles under, he could not stop in time to avoid the crash. The expert maintained that given the lateral change of velocity, Johnson did not stop at the stop sign before entering the intersection. The estate’s expert in commercial trucking maintained that Guru, as the controlling motor carrier for Johnson, violated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations by allowing Johnson to drive, since his history was marked by multiple traffic violations and a criminal record. (The court instructed the jury that Johnson’s record could only be considered against Guru.) Although Guru fired Johnson a few days before the crash, resulting in a heated racially charged verbal altercation between Johnson and Guru, the estate’s attorney argued that Guru was a controlling motor carrier, because on the morning of the crash, Guru dispatched Johnson to go park to wait for a load; and after the crash, Guru had Johnson undergo a required drug-screening. Johnson claimed that he came to a stop at the intersection and looked both ways before crossing. McConnell, however, did not heed the flashing yellow lights in his lane of traffic, and was speeding when the two vehicles collided. (Johnson’s counsel chose not to call a previously retained expert in accident reconstruction to testify.) Defense counsel for Guru argued that Guru was not a controlling motor carrier for Johnson, who at the time of the crash was operating a tractor owned by Chindra Singh (a named defendant who was dismissed prior to trial) and labeled "Howard Truck Lines Inc." on the side. According to Guru, the truck also carried the banner of Howard Truckline; therefore, there was a presumption that Johnson was an employee of Howard Truckline. Moreover, Johnson had not worked for Guru since a week before the time of the accident, when Johnson was let go by the company.

McConnell, a college student, was airlifted to a hospital in Youngstown, Ohio. Shortly before the helicopter landed at the hospital, McConnell went into cardiac arrest due to massive internal bleeding, mostly from his severely damaged liver. The hospital’s trauma team was unable to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead. The estate’s counsel relied upon the testimony of the treating flight paramedic, who discussed how it was evident that McConnell experienced pain prior to his death. The estate’s expert, based on McConnell’s education level, presented a lost earning capacity of $1.5 million to $2.2 million. (McConnell was a semester away from earning a bachelor’s degree in history.) McConnell’s parents sought to recover damages under the state’s Wrongful Death and Survival Acts. The defense’s expert in vocational rehabilitation projected $1 million in McConnell’s lost earning capacity, based on his opinion that McConnell would have a hard time finding a job upon graduation, and would likely go back to work at a transformer plant with his father. However, on cross-examination, the expert seemed to revise his figures to estimate damages at $2.1 million.

The jury found Johnson 30 percent negligent and Guru Global 70-percent negligent. The jury determined the McConnells and the estate should receive damages totaling $5,465,000. (The jury found that McConnell was comparatively at fault, but that any negligence on his part was not a factual cause of his injuries.)

Mark A. McConnell: $1,500,000 Wrongful Death: loss of services, society, and comfort; Vickie McConnell: $1,500,000 Wrongful Death: loss of services, society, and comfort; Estate of Mark A. McConnell II: $365,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering; $2,100,000 Personal Injury: lost earning capacity

Judge:

Dominick Motto

Trial Length:

1
 weeks

Jury Vote:

10-2

This report is based on information that was provided plaintiffs’s counsel and by defense counsel for Guru Global Logistics LLC. Defense counsel for Johnson and Howard Truckline Inc. did not respond to the reporter’s phone calls.