Personal Injury News: Pick Of Last Month: February-2022

The family of a 15-month-old toddler who died from injuries after sustaining abuse in foster care located in Pueblo West home will get a $6 million settlement from Pueblo County Commissioners.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the out of the court settlement between the family and Pueblo County to avoid high litigation costs. The agreement is drafted in the best interest of both the parties involved in the lawsuit. It even states that Pueblo County is not responsible for the wrongdoing even though they have agreed on the payments to the child's parents.

The toddler was placed with the foster mother, who is charged with alleged first-degree murder of the child along with her boyfriend. The child was among the three other foster children and a biological child of the couple.

The culprit has pleaded guilty to the crime and is due to be sentenced in April. The attorney representing the family denied commenting on the case.

Bridgeport police are investigating the death of a 23-year-old Connecticut woman who died of an overdose as a crime.

As per the lawsuit,  on December 12, 2021, the woman was found unresponsive in her home. The police were informed about the incident by an individual who met the woman on the Bumble dating app and had been on a date night before the incident.

A medical examiner ruled that the woman's death was a result of acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol. The US Drug Enforcement Administration will assist the officials to investigate the report as a crime.

The deceased woman's family accused the police department violated civil rights by mishandling the investigation of the death and did not notify the family. The family even raised concerns over the reports of the medical examiner.

Prior to the ruling, the family was looking forward to suing the city of Bridgeport, including higher officials and detectives involved in the investigation. The family alleged that the officials did not collect enough physical evidence that could determine if the case was a crime or accident.

A motorcyclist from Secaucus has received $1.4 million in a lawsuit filed after a 2018 crash in Bergen County where the driver of the SUV struck him.

As per the lawsuit, on September 2, 2018, the plaintiff was going north on Summit Avenue riding a 2019 Ducati motorcycle, and the defendant was driving west on Franklin Avenue in a 2015 Mercedes Benz SUV when the crash happened.

The crash resulted in extensive medical treatment for the plaintiff and would also require additional medical care in the future as he suffered from severe injuries along with disfigurement. Henceforth, he will suffer severe pain and emotional distress and would not be able to perform daily activities, including employment. 

The plaintiff underwent nine surgical procedures as he was thrown 35 to 40 feet after striking the hood of the SUV, which resulted in a fractured left wrist, left forearm and left hand.

A federal jury has awarded a $3 million settlement to the family of a 19-year-old Black man who was shot by police officers in 2019, which resulted in his death.

The boy's death resulted in protests against the excessive force used by police and also instigated a new set of police accountability laws in Colorado. The family filed the lawsuit with allegations of racial bias in policing, civil rights violations and wrongful death.

As per the footage of the police body camera, the police officers were talking to the boy and another man about an armed robbery that was reported in southeast Colorado Springs. The boy ran as the officers were about to search him. The recording even shows that one of the police officers was yelling "Hands up!" before shooting at the boy.

The police officers said that they shot the boy as they feared that he might have been reaching for a gun while running. As per the investigating officers' reports, the body-cam footage disclosed that the police officers removed a pistol from his pocket after being shot and was handcuffed.

The mother of the boy said that she is heartbroken after the death of her son and hopes that the changes in the Colorado Springs Police Department will prevent further such incidences.

A state grand jury, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office thoroughly reviewed the case and concluded that the police officers involved in the case should not be charged with any criminal act.

A federal jury has ordered San Jose Unified School District to pay $2 million in a lawsuit where a Spanish teacher sexually abused a woman when she was a 17-year-old student in his classroom.

As per the lawsuit, the woman met the teacher while she was a sophomore student in the Spanish class at Pioneer High School. The student became a teacher's assistant after spending a year in his class. Eventually, the teacher began grooming the student and sooner started sexually abusing her inside the classroom during and after school hours.

The teacher sexually abused the student for four months, from October 2018 to January 2019, when he was arrested. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on four counts of sexual penetration with a person under the age of 18 and three counts of oral copulation with a person under the age of 18.

The attorneys for the woman stated that even though the district instantly placed the teacher on unpaid leave, the school officials failed to prevent the abuse by ignoring the multiple red flags that were issued earlier.