$11 million settlements in Chicago train deaths
CHICAGO (AP) A judge in Chicago says the Metra transit system must pay $11 million to settle two Nebraska wrongful death lawsuits stemming from a deadly 2005 train derailment.
College student Jane Cuthbert and research technician Allison Walsh were killed in September 2005. A commuter train from Joliet to Chicago derailed while changing tracks. More than 80 others were injured.
Federal officials have said the train was traveling about 70 mph. The train's engineer was fired in 2006.
On Wednesday, Cook County Judge Thomas Hogan approved the Nebraska Wrongful Death settlement.
Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet (PAR'-dohn-nay) had no comment.
Reports of wrongful death lawsuit in teen shooting incorrect
The mother of a 16-year-old Crawford boy, shot and killed by Crawford Police Chief Richard “Rick” Thompson last year, plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit but it hasn't been filed yet.
Attorneys for Pat Britton, mother of teenager Jesse Britton, will file the lawsuit against Thompson, the City of Crawford and Dan Kling, a Nebraska Game and Parks employee in the near future.
The lawsuit will be filed in U.S. District Court and the trial will take place at the federal building in North Platte.
Recent news reports, including from the Omaha World Herald and the Associated Press, that the lawsuit was filed in Scotts Bluff County District Court are incorrect. Robert Chaloupka, an attorney from Scottsbluff, intends to file the lawsuit but it will be in federal court.
The North Platte Bulletin obtained a copy of the lawsuit Wednesday.
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.
On Oct. 3, 2007, Thompson got a tip that Britton was hiding in an abandoned 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 sources. 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 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.
Reports of wrongful death lawsuit in teen shooting incorrect
The mother of a 16-year-old Crawford boy, shot and killed by Crawford Police Chief Richard “Rick” Thompson last year, plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit but it hasn't been filed yet.
Attorneys for Pat Britton, mother of teenager Jesse Britton, will file the lawsuit against Thompson, the City of Crawford and Dan Kling, a Nebraska Game and Parks employee in the near future.
The lawsuit will be filed in U.S. District Court and the trial will take place at the federal building in North Platte.
Recent news reports, including from the Omaha World Herald and the Associated Press, that the lawsuit was filed in Scotts Bluff County District Court are incorrect. Robert Chaloupka, an attorney from Scottsbluff, intends to file the lawsuit but it will be in federal court.
The North Platte Bulletin obtained a copy of the lawsuit Wednesday.
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.
On Oct. 3, 2007, Thompson got a tip that Britton was hiding in an abandoned 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 sources. 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 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.
Lyons: Murder saga needs an ending
The legal saga of the 2001 shooting death of Raul Briseño gets more convoluted each day.
The case continued to astound Wednesday with news that getaway driver Jennifer McMullan would not get the deal she was promised to cut her 27-year sentence for agreeing to testify against alleged shooter Kenneth Smith.
To say this case has caused two different McHenry County state’s attorney administrations some embarrassment during the past seven years is like calling Gary Gauger’s wrongful murder conviction a clerical error.
One overturned conviction for Smith and a plea deal that a judge refused to accept are just some of the highlights.
If the prosecution of Kenny Smith, Jennifer McMullan and Justin Houghtaling were made into a movie, it would be a dark comedy, probably written and directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen.
But it’s not a movie, and there’s nothing funny about a father and a business owner getting shot to death by punks trying to rob his McHenry restaurant.
In March 2001, McHenry police had little to go on. Eventually, a little bird told them that a Lake County woman knew something about the crime.
When police spoke with Jennifer McMullan, they soon learned that she knew a lot more than they expected.
Police videotaped their interview with McMullan, who, in her naiveté, placed herself and her co-defendants near the scene on the night of the crime. She also said that Smith had a gun and mentioned a robbery when she dropped them off and waited for them to return.
Police got a warrant for Houghtaling, who had fled to Nebraska. Houghtaling told police that McMullan drove; that he and Smith tried to commit the robbery; that Smith shot Briseño.
Prosecutors gave Houghtaling a 20-year deal in exchange for his testimony, which he provided at McMullan’s trial.
Then he changed his mind at Smith’s trial after prosecutors prematurely granted him his sentence.
That moved prosecutors to pound Houghtaling’s square peg testimony into a legal round hole at Smith’s trial, which led to an appellate court reversing Smith’s conviction.
Faced with the prospect of trying Smith again and the ever reliable, proven liar Houghtaling, prosecutors cut a deal with McMullan, who had the longest prison term of the three.
What’s puzzling is why prosecutors now are alarmed enough based on recent conversations with McMullan that they wouldn’t even call presumably their star witness against Smith.
And why are her statements surprising them now?
Oklahoma E. coli Outbreak Linked to Locust Grove Restaurant
One person in Oklahoma has died from what appears to be E. coli food poisoning. At least 11 others have been hospitalized with symptoms of E. coli. At least 10 of the people ate at a restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. One commenter on Tulsa World is saying that the restaurant in question is Country Cottage, a highly-rated, quaintly-decorated restaurant in Locust Grove.
This situation is tragic for everyone. The culprit in this case may be beef. Millions of pounds of beef products have been recalled recently, most if it by one processor, Nebraska Beef, Ltd., a company with a history of sanitation violations.
Although beef is the most common source of E. coli outbreaks, other foods can be the source of E. coli infections, including but not limited to leafy greens and unpasteurized apple cider and milk.
One of our recent E. coli wrongful death cases involved spinach. Another E. coli wrongful death case our law firm is handling involves a restaurant where a goat was slaughtered in the restaurant kitchen.
Wrongful death lawsuit settled against Haythorn Ranch
The lawsuit was filed in Lincoln County District Court by the estate of 5-year-old Dakota F. McKillip in November of 2004.
Dakota was killed after he fell underneath a horse being ridden by Harry Haythorn on Nov. 3, 2002.
The lawsuit was a wrongful death suit that was filed against the ranch and Harry Haythorn.
Attorneys representing the plaintiff and defendant declined to comment on the settlement but a source close to the case said the settlement amount was $50,000.
The incident in question occurred in the morning of Nov. 3, 2002, according to the suit.
Dakota was visiting his father, Franklin S. McKillip, who was a hand on the ranch and had a home there.
The ranch hands were moving cattle from the pasture to feed bunks on a cold November morning. Dakota was riding a small quarter horse owned by the ranch named Freckles.
Dakota got cold and wanted to return to his dad’s ranch house and warm up, according to the suit.
Harry Haythorn, also on horseback, noticed that no one was tending to Dakota so he volunteered to assist the boy back to the house.
Haythorn led Freckles, with Dakota riding him, to the front entrance of McKillip’s ranch house and positioned the horses to allow Dakota to dismount.
The horses were steady, according to the lawsuit, and Dakota got off of Freckles. But as Dakota walked away, he stumbled and fell underneath the hindquarters of the horse Haythorn was riding.
Dakota suffered massive injuries from the horse. He was taken to Great Plains Regional Medical Center by ambulance then taken to Denver Health Medical Center where he passed away four days later.