wow-- This aint the streets of Bakersfield, Mick:
Thursday, February 3, 2005
Jury awards $2.6 million to family
By John Basilesco
Staff writer
DERRY -- After deliberating eight hours, a jury yesterday awarded nearly $2.6 million to the family of a local man killed in a car crash in front of Wal-Mart on Route 28 in 1999.
Following closing arguments Tuesday, the Rockingham County Superior Court jury spent four hours that day and another four hours yesterday before reaching its verdict in favor of the family of David DeBenedetto and against Manchester-based CLD Engineering Associates, which redesigned the intersection.
DeBenedetto was killed when his pickup truck collided with a car driven by a 71-year-old woman who pulled into the intersection from Wal-Mart after she got frustrated by a red light that got stuck in that position for at least five minutes. DeBenedetto had a green light as he was traveling on Route 28 on his way to work when he collided with Doris Christous' car.
DeBenedetto's truck flipped over, landing on its roof in the center island, crushing his chest. He died while holding the hand of a Derry woman who rushed to help.
Yesterday, the jury, in its verdict, placed 49 percent of the blame on CLD Engineering for a faulty redesign of the traffic lights at the intersection. The jury also pinned 49 percent of the blame on Christous and 2 percent of the blame on the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, two former defendants in the case.
While the jury's total judgment was $5.3 million for the DeBenedetto family, only 49 percent of that amount will be awarded to the family under New Hampshire state law.
That equals $2,597,000, which is fine with Roger Turgeon, the lawyer for the DeBenedetto family.
"Obviously, we're very pleased," Turgeon said about the jury's decision. "The jury was particularly attentive throughout the trial and decided the facts supported her (Janet DeBenedetto) themselves. You obviously have your doubts and questions about how a jury will act."
While Turgeon said he was not surprised with the jury's decision, he was surprised by the size of the judgment, given a reputation for juries in New Hampshire of not being "too generous."
"I'm just very happy with the verdict," Janet DeBenedetto said this morning. "It won't bring David back, but it will help me support my family. I won't have to worry about how to feed them next week."
Since her husband's death, DeBenedetto said, she has turned to her parents for financial help several times. She has spent the last few years earning a teaching certificate, and has begun working as a substitute teacher in Derry schools. During the trial she testified that her three children were struggling emotionally with their father's death.
Michael Hatem, the lawyer for CLD, said he is considering an appeal.
"The jury returned a verdict against our client which we feel was in direct conflict with the actual evidence presented at the trial," Hatem said. "The cause of the accident was the reckless conduct of Doris Christous, who ran a light and crossed five lanes of traffic without ever stopping before colliding with Mr. DeBenedetto. We do not believe the verdict will survive an appeal, and we're reviewing all our options at this point."
In her lawsuit, DeBenedetto said a faulty design of the traffic lights by CLD at the intersection was to blame for the crash that killed her husband on Memorial Day 1999. Specifically, DeBenedetto's suit claimed that CLD's "defective" traffic control system caused a red light to become stuck in that position for at least five minutes, leading Christous to get frustrated and pull into the intersection as DeBenedetto was approaching.
CLD denied negligence, saying that it didn't make any changes to the Wal-Mart exit when it redesigned the intersection based on the directions of the Department of Transportation. It redesigned the intersection to accommodate the new Victory Supermarket across the street from Wal-Mart.
Janet and David DeBenedetto grew up in Methuen and moved to Derry in 1991 after they married. They have three children. |
