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GM Wins In Derrick Thomas Wrongful Death Trial
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jurors decided Tuesday that General Motors was not at fault in the death of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas.The jury ruled 10 to 2 that Thomas' family was not entitled to any money from the automaker.
Thomas died from injuries he sustained in a wreck in January 2000.<table class="storyAd" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="storyAdObj"> <!-- Begin Ad tag: square--><script type="text/javascript"> IBSYS.ad.AdManager.registerPosition({ "iframe": false, "addlSz": "", "element": "ad_N69.74B4", "interstitials": false, "beginDate": "", "endDate": "", "getSect": "", "name": "square", "qString": "", "width": "300", "height": "250", "section": "", "useId": "3660399", "interactive": false, "useSameCategory": true, "topic": "", "swSectionRoot": "", "useZone": "", "containerType": "page", "containerID": "89894", "type": "DOM" }); </script><script src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/ibs.kc1.news/local;kw=news+square+3660399;comp=false;ad=true;pgtype=detail;tile=4;sz=300x250;ord=1232947275536?"></script><noscript>http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/ibs.kc1.news/national;kw=news+square+3660399;ad=true;pgtype=detail;ptile=8;sz=300x250;ord=123456789? (http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/ibs.kc1.news/national;kw=news+square+3660399;ad=true;pgtype=detail;ptile=8;sz=300x250;ord=123456789?)</noscript><!-- End Ad tag: square--> </td></tr></tbody></table>His mother, Edith Morgan, his seven children and their five mothers filed the lawsuit against the automaker, claiming that a defective design on Thomas' Chevrolet Suburban led to his death.
During closing arguments Monday, GM's attorneys said Thomas broke his back after being ejected from his Suburban. They said Thomas was speeding in icy conditions and not wearing his seat belt, and his injuries were not the result of the roof caving in, as the plaintiffs' attorneys have argued.
"He was driving faster than anyone else on the road, and he was cutting in and out of traffic. There is no question about that," GM attorney John Hickey said Monday.
Hickey urged jurors not to award the family any money.
He said the ruling vindicated his client and the Chevrolet Suburban, and it sends a message to others that they should wear seat belts and drive safely.
"All we wanted to do is defend our car," Hickey said. "I feel bad for the Thomases. Mr. Thomas, unfortunately, was driving too fast."
The attorney for the plaintiffs, Michael Piuze, had asked the Jackson County jury to order GM to pay $75 million in the wrongful death lawsuit. In closing arguments, Piuze reminded the jury that sports agent Lee Steinberg said Thomas would have made $43 million before retiring from the NFL.
Jurors received the case Monday evening and returned the verdict at 12:30 p.m. the next day.
KMBC's Emily Aylward said that Thomas' mother (pictured, right) was disappointed with the verdict.
Morgan, who started the "Buckle Up for Derrick" campaign soon after her son's death to urge Kansas City motorists to wear seat belts, said her family would survive.
"We're going to be strong and fight the good fight of faith," she said. "It has been very, very tough to relive these incidents all over again. Even if they would have awarded something, it couldn't have taken the place of my son."
Piuze said the jury's decision was not surprising.
"The problem with this case is that in the last four years since he got hurt, there has been an awful lot of publicity that Derrick Thomas was at fault, that Derrick Thomas was not wearing a seat belt," Piuze said.
Todd Beverlin, of Lee's Summit, who was one of two jurors who voted to award damages, said he didn't buy the automaker's argument that Thomas was flung from the vehicle before the roof caved in.
In a civil trial, at least nine of the 12 jurors must agree on a verdict. The vote Tuesday against awarding damages was 10-2.
"I felt actually that he couldn't have been ejected from the vehicle where (GM) said he was ejected," said Beverlin, a Kansas City Chiefs season ticket-holder. "I thought he was ejected on the second roll."
Beverlin said he was shocked four years ago when he heard about the crash that injured Thomas, but being a Chiefs fan did not influence his belief that Thomas' family should receive compensation from General Motors.
Barb Schnepf, of rural Lee's Summit, who also sided with the plaintiffs, said GM should have been held liable.
"I believe that Derrick Thomas was injured inside the vehicle," Schnepf said. "I believe GM knew its roofs were not crash worthy, from the late '60s to early '70s, and did nothing to correct the problem."
The jurors who voted against awarding damages avoided reporters as they left the courthouse.