Miners’ widows, company settle lawsuit
The widows of two miners killed in a 2006 coal mine fire in West Virginia have settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Massey Energy Co.
Details of the settlement weren't released Monday. The agreement came after four days of a civil trial in Logan County Circuit Court.
The widows of miners Don I. Bragg, 33, and Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 47, had sued the Richmond, Va.-based company, two subsidiaries and CEO Don Blankenship.
Bragg and Hatfield died after getting lost in thick smoke from a conveyer belt fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in January 2006.
The lawsuit had claimed the nation's fourth-largest coal producer focused on profits over safety.
Former Crawford police chief says shooting justified
The former Crawford police chief, charged with assault after shooting and killing a 16-year-old teenager, said his actions were justified, in good faith, lawful and necessary.
Richard Rick Thompson filed his response in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Pat Britton, the mother of teenager Jesse Britton, in federal court.
Pat Britton filed the lawsuit against Thompson, the City of Crawford and Dan Kling, a Nebraska Game and Parks employee who accompanied Thompson into an abandoned bar that day to arrest Britton.
Crawford is a community of 1,100 people near Fort Robinson State Park that had been rocked by a number of burglaries. Britton was a suspect in the burglaries around Crawford and Thompson had been looking for him for several days.
Britton had been in scrapes with the law before and Thompson and the teen were familiar with each other.
On Oct. 3, 2007, Thompson got a tip that Britton was hiding in the abandoned Frontier Bar in downtown Crawford. Thompson placed two officers outside the bar and he and Kling went inside.
The men located Britton in an upstairs room when he popped up from behind a desk, according to court records. Britton was pointing a .22-caliber Ruger pistol at Thompson. The unloaded gun later turned out to be one that had been stolen in the recent burglaries. Thompson called to Britton and ordered the boy to drop the gun. When he didn't, Thompson fired three times and hit the teen with his third shot. Kling fired twice and both shots hit Britton.
The boy died at the scene.
A Dawes County grand jury indicted Thompson for second-degree assault in Britton's death. He was placed on unpaid leave by the City of Crawford.
Thompson has said he acted in self-defense.
In his answer to the lawsuit, Thompson denies depriving Britton of any rights under state or federal law.
The answer, filed by North Platte attorney Terry Waite, said that Britton voluntarily chose to encounter the risks incidental to his attempted arrest. He said that any injuries or damages Britton received were risks and dangers which he exposed himself to by failing to abide by lawful commands and by pointing a gun at a law enforcement officer.
Waite said that it was Britton's malicious, intentional, willful and unnecessary acts that got him killed.
In his answer, Waite argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed and that Pat Britton should pay Thompson's costs and attorney's fees.
In another filing in the case, Kling also made a motion for dismissal.
Stephanie Caldwell, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General and attorney for Kling, argued that Britton had a lengthy criminal history in juvenile court and said that at least one of them was violent.
Caldwell also argued that what Pat Britton claimed in the original lawsuit was that Thompson shot and killed Britton and does not mention Kling shooting.
Merely entering a bar to confront a suspect is hardly a violation of one's rights, Caldwell wrote.
The wrongful death lawsuit said the officers violated her son's rights.
The lawsuit said the officers had no reason to rush taking Britton into custody and that they had the manpower to insure he couldn't escape the bar.
Thompson and Kling should have tried to de-escalate the situation using conflict resolution techniques, according to the lawsuit, and there was no excuse to escalate the encounter to the point of deadly force.
The lawsuit said the officer's actions were inspired by malice and callous disregard for Jesse's (Britton's) life. It called the shooting reckless.
The City of Crawford, in its answer, argued that Pat Britton has no claim against the city based on state law. The city argued that state law specifically excludes liability of any claim arising out of assault.
No hearing date has been set.
The criminal assault charges against Thompson have not yet been set for trial.
Victim remembered as caring
Susan Kilgore was a mother, a sister, a fiancée. She crafted blankets for children and made soup for the residents of a Shawano nursing home.
Those were the positive ways she coped with a difficult life, showing the caring and compassion that her family remembers three years after her death. Those also are the memories that sharpen their sense of loss and injustice.
Kilgore was struck by a minivan while walking drunk on a dark, rural highway, on Nov. 6, 2005.
"I've gone down there a million times to try to figure out what could have happened, or why she would have been there," said her fiancée, Lee Owen, who lived with Kilgore in Bowler.
According to the sheriff's reports, Kilgore, then 37, started to walk south on U.S. Highway 45 around 11 p.m., after her car broke down south of Antigo. She had on a dark coat and dark boots and walked in the outer traffic lane. A coroner later measured her blood-alcohol level at 0.196, more than twice the legal limit for a driver.
"I suppose she was trying to walk to the nearest house or bar or whatever to call somebody," said Elizabeth Singh, a stepsister who lives in Milwaukee. "I don't think she was thinking right. I think she just wanted to get home."
The driver of a southbound van told authorities he saw something dark in the roadway, and he was unable to avoid the fatal collision.
Listening to a police scanner in his home about 15 miles away, Owen heard the report of the abandoned car and recognized Kilgore's license plate. He alerted Kilgore's stepmother, Beverly Ellwart, who rushed to find her daughter. When Ellwart arrived at the crash scene, a sheriff's deputy stopped her with the warning: "You don't want that to be your last impression."
She identified the body as her daughter based on the I.D. card authorities found.
Langlade County authorities found no wrongdoing on the van driver's part, but Kilgore's family filed a wrongful death claim against him in June. The case is pending.
The driver's attorney contends that Kilgore's bad decisions made her solely responsible for the tragedy. And he says Kilgore wasn't the only victim. The driver of the car was so shattered that to this day he has shared what happened only with his immediate family.
Born with spina bifida, Kilgore dealt with disabling back problems all her years. She struggled to find work - she couldn't sit or stand for long periods of time - and battled alcohol problems.
In 1993, she crashed her truck while driving two girls, ages 16 and 17, according to a criminal complaint. Kilgore told a deputy she was drunk at the time, and the girls said the older woman had shared wine with them. She was convicted on four counts, two for causing injury while driving drunk and two for providing the wine.
In 1997, she was convicted of fleeing the scene of an accident after she rear-ended a car, then drove away.
Owen said Kilgore had curbed her problem with alcohol over the last two years of her life.
Man indicted in 2004 shooting death of wife
A Swift County grand jury has indicted a corrections officer on charges of first- and second-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife in their Appleton home in 2004.
Court records show the indictments against 34-year-old Andrew Gordon Lemcke were issued Monday.
The Web site for the Pinal County sheriff's office in Florence, Ariz., says he was arrested there Sunday.
Other court records say Lemcke had been living in recent years in Florence, where he had worked at a Corrections Corporation of America facility.
Nichole Riley-Lemcke was shot Sept. 12, 2004. The 26-year-old was a mother of three.
Andrew Lemcke has described the shooting as accidental.
Riley-Lemcke's parents had been pressing authorities to file criminal charges ever since the shooting. They filed a wrongful death suit against him last year.
Sad day for slain man’s widow
The tragic morning of Jan. 13, 2003, began like many others for Ronda Lyon.
Her husband, 52-year-old Tom Lyon, arose about 6:30 a.m. He was in a good mood and he told his wife to stay in bed if she was tired. She told him goodbye, unknowing it was for the last time.
He had planned to climb into his pickup truck and do "drive-bys" to check his cow-calf herd and his farmland. Then he would come back for breakfast before heading out for a full day of farm work.
But he never returned home, leaving his bewildered wife to launch a desperate, one-woman search covering miles of rural Iowa countryside southeast of Indianola.
That violent day abruptly changed her life. Life changed in big ways. She had to sell their land and cope with the grief of having her husband slain.
Life changed in smaller, more routine ways, too. She always slept with Tom unless he fell asleep in a chair, but now she sleeps alone.
"Hardly a night goes by that doesn't have a dream with him being in it, with he or I doing something."
Here is how Ronda Lyon spent the last day of her husband's life.
Milo farmer Tom Lyon was known as a big, friendly man with an occasional temper who stood 6 feet tall and weighed 226 pounds. Neither Ronda nor Tom had any inkling he would be dead by 7 a.m. that chilly winter Monday, killed by a single rifle shot to the head by neighboring farmer Rodney Heemstra.
Ronda had no idea that Heemstra would chain Lyon's body to the back of a pickup truck, then drag it more than a mile. Then he would dump the battered corpse head-first into a cistern and neatly cover it with bales of green hay. A search party found Lyon's feet sticking up inside the cistern the next day after discovering a patchy trail of blood in a cornfield.
Ronda Lyon, 57, a farm homemaker who married at 19, testified a week and a half ago in a civil trial against Heemstra in Polk County District Court. Judge Michael Huppert took the wrongful death lawsuit under consideration and is expected to decide within about three months. Huppert has already ruled Heemstra was clearly liable for Lyon's death and Lyon's family can seek punitive damages.
Heemstra, 49, was freed from prison in October after serving more than four years on a voluntary manslaughter conviction. He has never expressed remorse for killing the unarmed Lyon.
Defense lawyers last week called several witnesses who described Tom Lyon as angry and deeply disappointed after Heemstra purchased a nearby farm Lyon had rented. Lyon was also unhappy after cattle-watering equipment was turned off while his cows still grazed on the land. Heemstra wasn't due to take possession of the farm until March 1, 2003.
The witnesses raised the possibility that Lyon provoked Heemstra, although a criminal court rejected Heemstra's self-defense claim.
Ronda, like most farm wives, knew her husband's routines. He typically returned to his farmhouse between 7 a.m. and 7:15 each day for breakfast, she said. Then he would head out again to finish his chores and do other farm work. His wife said her husband never said anything about Heemstra the day of his death, nor did he express any concerns about cattle-watering equipment.
Tom never carried any type of a deadly weapon in his pickup truck, she added.
Ronda said she felt it was odd when her husband didn't return for breakfast that morning, but she at least expected him to come back for a breakfast bar so he could have something to eat.
She had known he was working on installing a tile drainage line at another farm, and she thought he would return later in the morning. "It felt uncomfortable, but I let it go," she recalled.
That afternoon, Tom had planned to transport a load of feeder calves to a livestock sales barn in Humeston. Ronda knew enough about his routine that he would have returned by noon. He planned to work with a hired hand to haul the livestock for extra income and he would have been there checking the semi-trailer and getting it ready. So she planned to have dinner ready for him by noon.
When Tom didn't show up, she left the house to look for him about 12:15 p.m. She thought it was not like him to be late. So she got in her car and headed north to the intersection where they lived and went to the area where she expected him to be installing tile. But he wasn't there, so she thought he had gone west to another farm where he planned to load the calves. But no one there had seen Tom, and she couldn't find him.
"From there I went back home and tried calling him. I tried calling him earlier in the morning on his cell phone," Ronda said.
She began driving her car south and saw Tom's pickup in a wide farm driveway. She pulled her vehicle up and got out and walked toward the pickup. She scanned through the field and looked through the cows to see if he was out walking in the pasture.
"I walked up beside the pickup and put my hand on the hood and it felt ice cold. Then my stomach felt kind of jittery and I thought, 'This just isn't right.' "
She started hollering for him and looked again for him in the pasture.
"I hollered and there was no sound," she said. The cows just kept eating. She opened the pickup door and found his cell phone and some of his winter clothing. She began walking and found one of his gloves on the ground.
"I thought that is dumb. He doesn't have one of his gloves on. ... I thought this just doesn't feel right."
She saw some footprints that headed toward the road, and got more nervous. She said the footprints looked like Tom's from a type of boot that he wore.
She eventually called for help and a search party was organized by the Warren County Sheriff's Department. The headquarters for the search started in her kitchen, but soon a large search party gathered that grew to about 200 neighbors, friends and others, and the rural Motor Friends Church community room became the headquarters. Lyon had been known as the mayor of Motor, an unincorporated area where he and Ronda resided a few miles northeast of Milo. He was known for his community involvement and as someone who checked on property when owners were away.
The search party had been organized probably about 3:30 or 4 p.m. Ronda said she was numb.
"I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it was ... nothing was making sense."
By the next day, Ronda didn't want to admit the situation was bad.
"Deep down I knew it was."
Tom's body was found about 11 p.m. on Tuesday. She learned he was dead when a deputy came to the church to speak with her.
Heemstra, who was also a well-known, respected Milo farmer, was arrested the next day. He confessed to killing Tom Lyon.
Ronda Lyon's life has never been the same since that day in 2003. A series of criminal and civil court battles involving Heemstra since her husband's death hasn't helped. She hopes to someday start putting the tragedy behind her so her healing can finally begin.
Asbestos exposure causes wrongful death lawsuit
Dallas mesothelioma cancer attorney, Witherite, reports Wisconsin wrongful death widow files wrongful death claim. The lawsuit names 109 defendants responsible for spouse’s occupational asbestos exposure.
November 13, 2008, Dallas, Texas (JusticeNewsFlash.com)–Experienced Dallas, Texas, Wisconsin wrongful death attorney, Amy Witherite, reveals Doris Piacentine, a Wisconsin resident, recently filed a mesothelioma cancer wrongful death lawsuit recently in Illinois. Piacentine claims Her husband died as a result of a chronic pulmonary illness he contracted due to years of occupational exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma cancers develop from direct and secondary exposure to asbestos. Edward C. Piacentine, Doris’s late spouse, was diagnosed with plural mesothelioma on March 16, 2007. He died two months later on May 23, 2008, according to the lawsuit filed in Illinois’ Madison County Circuit Court. The lawsuit names 109 defendant companies and employers stating her husband developed pleural mesothelioma after continuous occupational exposure to asbestos containing products.
The educated Dallas County mesothelioma cancer attorney, Witherite, outlines the following key complaints in the asbestos lawsuit:
-Edward was employed over 43 years in the following positions: meat packer, U.S. Navy corpsman, construction worker, truck driver and electrical inspector for the city of Milwaukee.
-The occupational asbestos exposure should have been anticipated and prevented by the defendants
-Edward suffered considerable mental and physical pain, lost income, and incurred medical expenses for mesothelioma treatment.
Informed mesothelioma cancer attorney, Witherite, with the Dallas, Texas law firm of Eberstein & Witherite, has been fighting for asbestos victims rights for a combined total of 40 years. The strong asbestos worker advocates believe workers and their families injured by asbestos exposure deserve compensation for their injuries and losses. Contact a product liability attorney specializing in mesothelioma and asbestos litigation for help with you claim.
Friends are no longer being sued over drinking death
Only one defendant remains in the lawsuit brought by the family of Amanda Jax, the Twin Cities woman whose extreme drunkenness killed her after a night out with college-age friends to celebrate her 21st birthday.
The attorney for Jax's family said Friday that four of the friends who were with Jax on Oct. 29, 2007, in a Mankato bar are no longer defendants in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed in Blue Earth County. The four are: Kathryn A. Lensing of Rochester; Richard T. Johnson of Mankato; Jonathan R. McIntyre of St. Paul; and Per David Kvalsten of Durbin, N.D.
The lone defendant is the now-defunct Sidelines Bar and Grill, where Jax and her friends were drinking.
A fifth friend, Hannah Becker, of Monticello, Minn., also has had claims dismissed against her but in a separate arrangement. Lensing, Johnson, McIntyre and Kvalsten have agreed not to speak publicly about the case. Becker and her attorney, Mark Solheim, are not bound by such a restriction.
"Plaintiffs brought this Minnesota wrongful death litigation against the friends of Ms. Jax in order to learn more about the events leading up to Ms. Jax's death and in an effort to address the problem of binge drinking by college-age students," Chad Schulze, the attorney for Jax's family said in a news release Friday. However, he said, the plaintiffs have determined that it's not in the best interests of any of the parties to pursue the claims against some of her friends.
On the evening before Jax's alcohol-poisoning death, the friends bought her one drink after another in less than two hours at the bar. She was taken back to Becker's apartment, where she died the next day.
An autopsy found Jax's blood-alcohol content was nearly 0.46 percent, nearly six times the level used to determine drunkenness in drunken-driving cases.
In its claims against the bar, the Minnesota wrongful death suit says bartender Beau Ryan ignored "Amanda's obvious state of intoxication."
Lawsuits Filed Against Consulting Firm, Contractors in 35W Bridge Collapse
MINNEAPOLIS -- Lawsuits were filed today in Hennepin County District Court on behalf of three individuals who were injured and the family of one who was killed in the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
Negligent engineers?
The lawsuits claim negligence, breach of contract and a violation of professional standards on behalf of URS Corporation, a California based engineering firm, which had contracted with MnDOT to perform inspections and expert engineering analysis of the 35W bridge going back to 2004.
The lawsuits were brought by the Minneapolis law firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben Schwebel says URS missed warning signs in bent and corroding gusset plates, which had whittled down to a quarter of an inch, that led to the collapse.
"You've got a situation here where you've got both ends of a fracture-critical member that are compromised," Schwebel said. "URS did not act on this information."
PCI Corporation, the contractor working on the bridge deck at the time of the collapse, was also named as a defendant. The suit claims that PCI’s excessive loading of materials on the bridge, its removal of critical bridge deck elements and its failure to do any engineering analysis, contributed to causing the collapse.
Wrongful death on behalf of Paul Eickstadt
Wrongful death is also claimed in the complaint filed on behalf of Paul Eickstadt and his next of kin.
Eickstadt, 51, is the only individual named in the lawsuits who was killed in the bridge collapse. He was driving a truck that was engulfed in flames immediately after the collapse.
Thirteen people died and 145 were injured when the bridge collapse on August 1, 2007. The suits will be filed on behalf of three of the injured and the family of one of the dead.
Thursday, the NTSB is releasing its official findings of the cause of the bridge collapse. Leaked reports say that too-thin gusset plates are to blame.
Drinking friend of Jax dismissed from lawsuit
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) A friend of the Minnesota State University student who drank herself to death is no longer a defendant in the resulting wrongful death lawsuit.
Hannah Becker is also an MSU student and one of five friends of Amanda Jax who were originally named by Jax's family in the lawsuit.
Becker's attorney, Mark Solheim, says it was proper for the Jax family to dismiss his client because there's no legal basis for suing a drinking companion.
Amanda Jax celebrated her 21st birthday by drinking with friends until her blood-alcohol level reached 0.46 percent. The official cause of death was alcohol poisoning.
Four friends remain as defendants, as do two bar owners.
A jury Minnesota Wrongful Death trial is scheduled for late July.
Information from: The Free Press,
Heemstra trial ends: Witnesses say Lyon was angry about land
Defense witnesses today described slain Milo farmer Tom Lyon as deeply disappointed and angry after fellow farmer Rodney Heemstra purchased a nearby farm Lyon had been renting.
Evan Kibbe, who had been a hired hand on the farm, testified during the final day of a civil trial that Lyon had ranted and raved about problems with water being shut off for his cows after Heemstra had purchased the farm. Heemstra wasn’t scheduled to take possession immediately, so Lyon continued to graze his cows on the land.“I should shoot the son of a bitch and go on,” Kibbe quoted Lyon as saying. He also said Lyon had also talked about acquiring a firearm “to run off varmints” and that Lyon told him the weapon was kept in his pickup truck. Kibbe acknowledged under cross-examination never seeing the firearm.
The defense witnesses testified in the fifth day of a wrongful death case filed by Lyon’s family against Heemstra. The trial ended early this afternoon and Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert gave each side 30 days to submit final written arguments.
He plans to take the case under consideration and will issue a decision at a later date. Huppert has already ruled Heemstra is clearly liable for killing Lyon and that Lyon’s family can seek punitive damages.