Nebraska Wrongful Death Lawyer category
1Lyons: Murder saga needs an ending
30 August 2008
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?
2Oklahoma E. coli Outbreak Linked to Locust Grove Restaurant
28 August 2008
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.
3Wrongful death lawsuit settled against Haythorn Ranch
21 August 2008
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.
4Family sues city
17 August 2008
The mother of a Lincoln woman who died after an asthma episode at her home is suing the city in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Rita Choquette, the mother of Emy C. Choquette, claims city emergency medical staff who were dispatched to the residence failed to, among other things, timely begin appropriate medical procedures on her daughter.
Emy Choquette, 28, never fully regained consciousness after the Aug. 10 episode, according to the lawsuit. She died Aug. 14.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Lancaster County District Court by Omaha attorney David Domina, names as defendants the city of Lincoln, Lancaster County and six emergency medical technicians. The technicians’ names were unknown to the plaintiff at the time of the filing.
According to the lawsuit, Emy Choquette began to feel ill the evening of Aug. 10. When medication and a nebulizer failed to relieve her symptoms, she administered to herself two injections of another prescribed medication, the lawsuit stated.
In the meantime, Emy Choquette’s sister, who was at the home at the time, dialed 911. Emergency medical staff arrived about six minutes later, the lawsuit said.
5Dust lawsuit settled out of court
11 July 2008
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — A tentative Nebraska wrongful death settlement has been reached in a Nebraska wrongful death lawsuit contending that thick dust blowing off a Nebraska ranch contributed to a three-fatality accident on Interstate 80 in 2005.
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A fatal 2005 “brownout” on I-80 near North Platte, Neb., has prompted a lawsuit from survivors of two of the victims.
A jury trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday in the lawsuit brought by family members of two women killed in the eight-vehicle chain-reaction pileup. The trial was called off.
Lawyers for the families of Jeanne Kerechanin, 54, and Pamela Hartman, 46, had alleged that poor soil-erosion control practices of the U-Cross Ranch, which is adjacent to I-80, caused the thick dust cloud that sparked the fiery accident.
Drivers of three semitrailer trucks, and the companies that employed them, also were named as defendants.
One of the trucking companies, Handei Mack, agreed to pay $237,500 to settle the suit.
Other settlement terms were not made public Tuesday.
Legal observers said the case could have affected a large number of Nebraska ranches and farms because dust is naturally generated by such operations.
But Anthony Schutz, an agriculture law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the out-of-court settlement was good news for ranchers because it won’t establish or change any precedents in that area of law.
Currently, Schutz said, a plaintiff would have to show that a farmer or rancher did something unreasonable or abnormal to make the dust cloud worse and cause a risk to nearby motorists.
The U-Cross Ranch had disputed any liability in the crash that occurred about 2:30 p.m. on March 10, 2005.
The ranch said the dust storm was clearly visible to motorists, had been the subject of weather advisories all day, and that drivers should have been able to take steps to avoid the hazard.
U-Cross attorney Dan Chesire of Omaha also said in a court brief that the ranch used sound erosion prevention methods and turned on center-pivot irrigation systems in an effort to control the dust that was whipped by 50 mph winds.
Chesire said Tuesday that he could not comment on the terms of the settlement but acknowledged that the ranch was among those involved in the agreement.
The families of the two women, represented by North Platte attorneys Martin Troshynski and Bob Lindemeier, had argued that the ranch didn’t do enough to control soil erosion and should have notified local law enforcement about the dangerous dust cloud.
The truckers, the lawsuit argued, were driving too fast or following too closely for the conditions.
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6Sand Nebraska Weongful Death lawsuit just dust in the wind
10 July 2008
The families of two women killed in an eight-car pileup on Interstate 80 settled their Nebraska wrongful death lawsuit against a Lincoln County ranch and three trucking companies they believed were responsible for the wreck Monday.
The 2005 wreck occurred after blowing dirt from the U-Cross Ranch caused poor visibility and dangerous conditions, according a lawsuit filed by the families of Jeanne Kay Kerechanin, 52, and Pamela J. Hartman, 46, both of Manitou Springs, Colo.
John Latham, 70, of Springfield, also died in the wreck.
The lawsuit said the ranch was negligent when it failed to prevent dust from blowing off its land and across the highway. The lawsuit also blamed the trucking companies – Handei Mack Inc., from Iowa; ZML Transportation from Ill.; and H and R Transport from Canada – for their drivers driving at unreasonable speeds and unsafely.
The families first settled with Handei Mack and Craig Allen Lanning for $237,500 on July 3.
7Family of officer seeks $8.5 million
31 May 2008
The family of a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy who was killed in a crash a year ago this month is seeking $8.5 million in damages from the state, saying officials failed to make sure the roadway was safe.
The claim, filed Friday with the State Claims Board on behalf of Shad Nicks’ estate, says the crash occurred in a poorly safeguarded construction zone.
Nicks, 36, was riding a motorcycle on U.S. Highway 6 near Giles Road when he was hit by a car driven by Heather Henning, 28. Henning’s car had crossed the center line, authorities say.
The claim accuses Nebraska roads officials of not ensuring the construction zone was safe for motorists in terms of design, speed of traffic, signage, traffic flow and maintenance.
Dale Butler, district operations maintenance manager for the Nebraska Department of Roads, said state officials had no comment.
Nicks’ family includes his wife, Becky Nicks, and three children: Brandon, 7; Ryan, 4; and Allyson, 1. They are seeking compensation for medical and funeral expenses, loss of future earnings and the loss of companionship he would have provided, said Clete Blakeman, an attorney representing the Nicks family.
Blakeman said a national roads expert from Kansas viewed the site and determined it was unsafe.
“It’s not something that I think is wrong, or that his spouse thinks is wrong,” Blakeman said. “It’s something that a national expert thinks is wrong.”
The State Claims Board conducts investigations and hearings on any liability or contract cases filed against state agencies and decides whether the state was at fault. It can then make recommendations to the Legislature for payment of damages.
If the board makes no decision within six months of the filing of a claim, the claimant can take the issue to district court, which Blakeman said he would do.
Henning was sentenced earlier this year to 3½ to five years in prison after pleading no contest to felony motor vehicle homicide and misdemeanor reckless driving. She has appealed the sentence as excessive and is asking that she instead be placed on probation.
In February, Henning posted $30,000 cash to be released from the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York while waiting on the appeal.
Blakeman said the family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Henning that is in the process of being settled. Her insurance policy offers a maximum $25,000 payout, meaning that is the most Becky Nicks and her children will receive from the settlement, Blakeman said.
“The family is feeling like it’s one thing after another against them,” Blakeman said. “It’s tough.”