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ST. LOUIS, MO -- The family of a man killed in a collision with a Joplin beer company
truck was awarded a verdict by a Jasper County jury.
John Decker was driving to work when the driver of a beer truck failed to yield
at a stop sign and collided with his vehicle in the middle of an intersection southeast
of Joplin on a foggy April 8, 2005. The tractor-trailer overturned on his vehicle,
killing him instantly.
John's wife, Kathy Decker, and other family members, including his adult children,
filed suit against the driver and The Beer Co., but dismissed the driver from the
suit after his lawyer requested a continuance.
According to Edward J. Hershewe, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, the driver indicated
he became momentarily disoriented by the fog before he ran the stop sign.
Hershewe argued the driver was negligent. Hershewe said the fog was not a surprise
to anyone in the area and he was driving the loaded commercial beer truck too fast
with only 50 to 75 feet of visibility.
Ron Mitchell, the defense counsel for Beer Co., argued this was not the only accident
that happened in the area due to the fog and the driver became disoriented due to
denser fog at the intersection.
Hershewe also argued the company was negligent in hiring the driver without filling
out the requisite Department of Transportation application and conducting an investigation
into his driving history.
"The year before he was hired he received three speeding tickets, one ticket
for following too closely and he had been involved in two rear-end collisions, a
single vehicle collision and had hit a deer," Hershewe said.
According to Hershewe, Mitchell argued that all the previous violations were committed
in a non-commercial vehicle and the driver never had any problems in the two years
he had driven their commercial truck. Mitchell contended the driver had already
been punished with a suspended license and fine.
The defense for the company presented evidence of the company's clean accident history
and reception of the highest safety rating from the Missouri Department of Transportation
for 2005.
"Their tactical decisions were to play up the effect of the weather and play
down the effect of the tickets in the non-commercial vehicle," Hershewe said.
"The way they argued kept the jury up in the air on liability and eventually
they were able to convince the jury to not give any punitive damages."
The defense asked the jury, if they found The Beer Co. to be liable, to limit the
award for Kathy Decker and her three minor children. They argued that John Decker
never supported his adult children and his lost earnings were minimal.
Hershewe said they countered the argument with testimony from John's ex-wife who
said he was a great father and didn't pay child support because the children had
a wealthy stepfather.
The jury returned a unanimous plaintiff's verdict after 1 hour and 35 minutes
of deliberation.
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