Court of Appeals upholds jury verdict against family in Lenawee County death case
The family of a young man killed in a Highway collision on US 223 filed suit against the trucking firm that struck the man's van while it was making a left turn. The family claimed that the defendant was illegally passing the victim's left-turning vehicle and provided proof that the turn signal was activated. The Defendant driver claimed that the van turned off the right shoulder into the path of his truck without warning, constituting a "sudden emergency." Each side presented expert reconstruction testimony supporting their theory of how the collision happened, and the jury found in favor of the Defendant. The Plaintiff family objected to the trial court's incomplete instruction on sudden emergency and also asked the higher court to overturn the verdict as "against the great weight of the evidence." The Court of Appeals refused.
Courts rarely overturn civil jury verdicts, and this family's die was cast when it was assigned to a panel with Judge Henry Saad. He always sides with insurance companies, no matter the issue. The case is Estate of Butros B. Jaghab v. Richard Eugene Merz, et al.