Verdicts & Settlements July 11, 2010: Jury sides with family in wrongful death suit

A family was awarded $235,000 after its car caught fire and the husband/father died of cardiac arrest.

Roxie Clevenger, her husband and their daughter were traveling down a rural highway when they smelled smoke in their 2001 Buick LeSabre. After pulling over to the side of the road, they saw flames in the backseat.

They tried to put out the fire, but the car continued to burn. The family walked across the road, and Billy Ray Clevenger, 79, collapsed from cardiac arrest and died. He had a history of heart problems.

Investigation showed the cause of the fire to be a short of a battery cable under the rear seat of the Buick, a plaintiff's attorney said.

The case was originally filed against General Motors and Westfall-O'Dell Motors (the dealership that sold the new car to the Clevenger family). Following the General Motors bankruptcy, GM was dismissed from the case, and the claim proceeded against the dealership. The new GM entity continued to provide defense and agreed to indemnify the dealership for any judgment entered in the case.

Although there were other cases involving similar incidents with GM vehicles, the plaintiff only presented one case that was close in similarity, said Kevin D. Stanley of the Stanley Law Firm in Kansas City.

The defense claimed the fire started from a cigarette ash dropped in the car earlier in the trip. There was testimony that a cigarette had been smoked in the car but no testimony that anyone had dropped a cigarette or any ashes, Stanley said.

Before trial, the plaintiff made a pre-trial demand of $475,000. The defense made no pre-trial offer. The trial lasted eight days, with the jury deliberating for nearly seven hours.

No medical expenses or loss of income/household services was claimed; the $235,000 damages were solely for the non-economic loss of the Clevenger family.

Defense attorney Michael P. Cooney of Dykema Gossett in Detroit did respond to questions, stating there was a confidential pretrial offer. * $235,000 jury verdict

Product liability/ wrongful death

* Court: Clay County Circuit Court

* Case Number/Date: 7CV104010886/ May 13, 2010

* Judge: Kathryn Elizabeth Davis

* Plaintiff's Experts: Michael Hearrold, Liberty (fire forensics); Richard Diklich, Liberty (automotive technology); Walter Thomas, Atlanta (fabric and textiles); Jerry Wallingford, San Antonio, Texas (automotive engineer); James Martin, Wichita, Kan. (electrical engineering); Dr. John Scowley, Richmond (internal medicine)

* Defendant's Experts: Richard Dyer, Kansas City (fire forensics); Stanley Modjeski, Detroit (automotive engineering); Thomas Livernois, Detroit (electrical engineer)

* Last Pre-trial Demand: $475,000

* Insurer: Indemnified by General Motors for defendant Westfall-O'Dell Motors Inc.

* Caption: Roxie Clevenger v. Westfall-O'Dell Motors Inc.

* Plaintiff's Attorneys: Kevin D. Stanley, The Stanley Law Firm, Kansas City; L. Benjamin Mook, Mook & Mook, Excelsior Springs

* Defendant's Attorney: Michael P. Cooney, Dykema Gossett, Detroit