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Friends Don’t Throw Other Friends Out Of A Moving Vehicle

Sometimes, trying a case before a judge and a jury can be boring.  Other times, there are twists and turns which make it real interesting.  Let me tell you about one such case I tried in Delaware County several years ago.

Sam’s friend had just gotten his driver’s license and surprised Sam by picking him after work.  That was just the beginning of the surprises for Sam that evening.  Sam’s friend then picked up two other boys and the four began to cruise around for a couple of hours in the van.  They didn’t hit it off real well and there was a lot of taunting, cursing and shoving going on in the van for most of the night.  Finally, Sam got in a fistfight with one of the other kids.  After winning the fight, Sam then fell asleep.  The next thing he knew, he felt the rush of wind on his face.  This was just before he was thrown out of the van.  He landed on the street and suffered a serious head injury which required several operations.  The other boys told the police that Sam fell out of the van during the fight.  I sued the boy who had been in the fight with Sam.  Insurance coverage was sought from his parent’s homeowner’s policy.  Coverage, however, would only apply if there was negligence.  I, therefore, had to prove that Sam was negligently thrown from the van – not intentionally.  What happened and why was the trial exciting?

After everyone had testified, the judge decided to allow the jury to actually see the van.  We all went outside and the van was driven right to the front of the courthouse.  The judge then placed all of the boys in the van and let the jury move them about to see how the fight took place.

The jury deliberated the case for ten minutes and found in our favor.  I wish that all judges were as open minded in allowing jurors to get a hands-on experience of the facts of a case.            Stephen Karp, Esquire