November 24, 2008

Trial Report

Heather Cole A Cole County jury awarded nearly $12 million to the family of a mother and son killed in a drunken-driving accident. The jury reached its verdict after a two-day trial. The amount includes $10 million in punitive damages. Eric Olsen, 41, was driving his family home from church on a Sunday in November 2007 on state Highway C when Larry Welch, 55, crossed the center line and crashed into the Olsens' car. Olsen's wife, Jean, and son, Tobias Olsen, died in the crash. Eric Olsen and his daughter, Johanna, were seriously injured. Welch, the owner of a Russellville business, L&W Plastering, pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 15 years on each count in August, with the sentences to be served concurrently. "He was drunk on a Sunday morning and crossed the center line and killed these people," said Dawn Mefford, an attorney representing the Olsens. "That was the most gut-wrenching fact in the case." The jury awarded nearly $1.6 million in compensatory damages for Eric and Johanna's wrongful death claims for Jean Olsen and nearly $272,000 to Eric Olsen for the death of Tobias Olsen. Punitive damages were $5 million for each of the deaths. The trial wrapped up about 12:15 p.m. Nov. 13, and the verdicts were delivered by 4 p.m., Mefford said.

Jean Olsen was the main bread winner for the family, and the plaintiffs' expert testified to an economic loss in a range of $841,000 to slightly more than $1 million, according to defense attorney Dana Harris. The defense conceded an economic loss of $950,000 in closing arguments. Welch's insurance carrier, Progressive, paid its $1 million policy limits to the Olsens before the start of the trial, Harris said in an e-mail. Eric and Johanna initially also sued for their personal injuries, but those claims were dropped to simplify the issues for the jury and focus the case on the deaths, said Mefford, an attorney with the St. Louis law firm Simon Passanante who represented the Olsens with Paul Passanante. Tort reform that took effect in 2005 limits punitive damages to $500,000 or five times the net amount of the compensatory damages awarded to the plaintiff. Because Welch had pleaded guilty to felonies, the caps on punitive damages put in place under tort reform did not apply. Even though Welch had pleaded guilty, liability wasn't admitted in the civil case, Mefford said. "I don't think [the criminal case] makes it easier," Mefford said. "You never know what a jury's going to do."

■Facts of the Case ■Type of Action:wrongful death/personal injury ■Court: Cole County Circuit Court ■Case Number/Date: 07AC-CC01058/Nov. 13, 2008 ■Judge: Patricia Joyce ■Verdict or Settlement: $11.8 million verdict ■Plaintiff's Experts: Lane Hudgins, Carbondale, Ill. (economist) ■Special Damages: $10 million punitive damages ■Insurance Carrier: Progressive ■Caption: Eric Olsen and Johanna Olsen by and through her natural father and next friend, Eric Olsen v. Larry Gene Welch ■Plaintiffs' Attorneys: Paul Passanante, Dawn Mefford and Kate Jilka, Simon Passanante, St. Louis ■Defense Attorneys: Dana Harris and Brette Hart, Harris McCausland, Kansas City Missouri Lawyers Media, 319 North fourth Street, 5th Floor, St. Louis, Missouri, 63101, (314)421-1880 © 2009 Missouri Lawyers Media, All Rights Reserved.