Columbus team earns defense verdict in Hamilton County

Dickie McCamey attorneys Joseph J. Golian and Thomas D. Brasco, Jr. secured a defense verdict in Hamilton County, Cincinnati, Ohio, following a ten-day trial.

Mr. Golian and Mr. Brasco represented a local franchisee of a national pizza chain in a wrongful death case, where the franchisee’s delivery driver struck and killed a pedestrian along the merge lane of an I-75 South on-ramp in Cincinnati.

Plaintiffs used video of the fatal accident captured by an Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) birds-eye traffic camera as the foundation of their case, alleging the vehicle was experiencing a disabling emergency, requiring it to be pulled over in the gore area between the on-ramp and I-75 S.

The franchisee driver, navigating the curving on-ramp while preparing to merge into highway traffic, struck the pedestrian in the roadway, causing fatal injuries. Plaintiffs alleged the franchisee driver owed a duty to see and avoid the pedestrian-decedent.

At trial, the estate asked the jury to find both the local franchisee and its driver at fault, seeking $5 million for wrongful death and $1 million for negligent infliction of emotional damage to a child occupant of the decedent’s vehicle.

Mr. Golian and Mr. Brasco defended the case, calling accident reconstruction, human factors, and toxicology experts to testify, as well as investigating officers.

The defense team demonstrated to the jury that critical contextual information could not be viewed on the ODOT video, captured from over 1000 feet away, such as the changing grade of the roadway, elevation, and the lane curvature, all of which posed visibility deficiencies, impacting the franchisee driver’s ability to perceive, identify, and react to the pedestrian and vehicle as hazards in her path of travel.

The accident reconstruction expert, who drove the route using an exemplar vehicle in his investigation, demonstrated the visual deficiencies for the jury through the use of digital diagramming and video capture showing the franchisee driver’s point of view as she drove the on-ramp.

The human factors expert also utilized an exemplar vehicle to drive the route in his investigation, testifying the franchisee driver’s merging actions, response, and reaction times were appropriate and reasonable considering the environmental challenges she faced. This testimony corroborated the opinions of the accident reconstructionist, proving the pedestrian/decedent and her vehicle were obscured from the franchisee driver’s view as she approached while preparing to merge into highway traffic.

The trial lasted ten days, resulting in a verdict in favor of defendants. The jury agreed with Mr. Golian and Mr. Brasco, finding the pedestrian-decedent was primarily at-fault for the accident and her fatal injuries.

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Dickie McCamey is a nationally-recognized law firm providing comprehensive legal expertise in a multitude of practice areas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, and founded more than 100 years ago, the firm serves industry-leading clients across the country from offices throughout the mid-Atlantic region in Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia, and the Southwestern region of California. For more information: 800-243-5412 or www.dmclaw.com.