The team at Burnett & Williams is proud to announce that they have reached a settlement in the case of Jarratt v. Harris et al. through mediation. This case, involving the gross negligence of a police officer, was a particularly difficult one, but Burnett & Williams are proud to have gotten justice for their clients.
The motor vehicle accident occurred after a county officer recorded a driver going 115 MPH before chasing him 1.1 miles into the city of Petersburg. The officer’s vehicle collided with another vehicle in the area, containing a family who was on a beach trip. The officer claimed to be unaware that he had traveled into the jurisdiction of Petersburg, further adding that he was not in pursuit of the suspect but instead conducting a traffic stop.
Unfortunately, this incident ended in tragedy, as this ended in the death of three — a mother, her daughter, and her 10-week-old fetus. A devastating situation all around, this accident shows not only the consequences of speeding but also those of a lack of caution by law enforcement. Three lives were lost that day, but the suffering that their loved ones will have to experience for the rest of their lives is equally devastating.
The victims’ families pursued a wrongful death lawsuit with the counsel of Burnett & Williams, a leading personal injury law firm based in Richmond, VA, and the surrounding area. With a team that boasts decades of experience in the field of personal injury law, Burnett & Williams was uniquely equipped to handle the circumstances of this case.
“The case against the speeder was easy, but to prevail against the officer required proving gross negligence which is difficult in Virginia as the Supreme Court set a high standard requiring ‘want of even scant care,’” explains C. James Williams III, principal for Burnett & Williams who served as a litigator on the case alongside Kimberly J. Raab. “[The] defense argued that the scant care was that he slowed down before the collision. Through FOIA, we obtained the transcript with his dispatcher, where he reported his speeds. He actually sped up rather than slowed down. It was a lot of fun for us to play that at the mediation, as this defense attorney didn’t know it existed.”
Understanding scant care
What made this case particularly difficult was that Virginia’s laws of gross negligence require “the absence of slight diligence or the want of even scant care.” This means that, in theory, if the officer had attempted to do anything to prevent the accident from occurring, he might not have been held liable in the wrongful death case. The burden is on the plaintiff to prove that there was not scant care, and proving this can be challenging.
While this concept can make it difficult to win cases like this, Williams and Raab wisely used the evidence in the dispatch transcripts to refute the defendant’s claims. When reporting his speed to the dispatchers, the officer reported his speed at 110 MPH during the pursuit, and right before the impact, he reported his speed as 115 MPH. This made the plaintiff’s argument for gross negligence stronger and allowed Williams to win the case.
“In Virginia, an uninsured motorist’s payment includes an automatic subrogation against any other recovery,” explains Williams. “I convinced the insurance company to waive subrogation, so the client accepted the offer of $200k of the $250K policy. Only $200,000 was offered by the UM carrier because it disputed that a fetus was a person under its family automobile policy. Rather than face another lawsuit involving a declaratory judgment action, the client agreed to settle to avoid yet another lawsuit. This was brilliant, as it seems no one at the insurance company thought we’d ever make a recovery against the officer, so they likely thought they were conceding nothing when they agreed to waiver.”
Why wrongful death settlements are important
Ultimately, Williams and Raab achieved a settlement of $4.5 million, structured for the victim’s minor beneficiary. Although it is impossible to put a monetary value on a life, settlements like this are essential to the loved ones of the victims of a tragedy like this. When someone loses a loved one, they not only lose companionship, but in many cases, they are also losing a part of their financial support. In this case, justice means ensuring that the victims’ loved ones do not have to face any additional suffering from their loss now or in the future.
No amount of money is going to bring back a deceased loved one, but settlements in wrongful death cases like this one are an essential step in holding the perpetrators accountable and getting justice for the victim. If you need help with a personal injury or wrongful death case in Virginia, consult one of the experienced attorneys at Burnett & Williams today.