David Christensen · Sarah Stempky-Kime
Premises / Negligent Supervision Wrongful Death Verdict: $9.5 million
August 28, 2024 5:30 PM||TLU n Demand
Detroit trial attorneys Dave Christensen and Sarah Stempky-Kime have achieved many seven and eight figure results in a state that does not have punitive damages.
This Case Analysis focuses on a zero-offer wrongful death trial against a retail store for its employee’s delay in calling 911 for a stabbing victim on the premises. The bleeding victim sought help from the store clerk but the clerk delayed the 911 call for eight minutes while the victim bled to death.
The victim was a 31-year-old single man with no dependents. The incident occurred in a high-crime area at 4:45 a.m. The victim walked to the gas station store to buy some snacks when he was confronted by some ‘crackheads’ in the parking lot.
See how some interesting obstacles were identified and then navigated at trial:
- “Marginalized Plaintiff” The defense would present the victim as a mentally ill drug user to marginalize him and minimize the loss;
- Non-Party at Fault. The stabber was not sued in this case and the defense would point the finger at her;
- Causation: Would calling 911 sooner have saved his life?
- No Economic Damages Available. The damages were limited to the victim’s conscious pain and suffering and the family’s loss of society and companionship of the victim’s parents and grandparents. He had not seen his parents in over two years despite them living 15 minutes away.
- Handling Difficult Witnesses. Some family members posed unique challenges.
Dave and Sarah will discuss and show key story-telling techniques that led to this successful outcome, including:
- The use of numerous in-house focus groups;
- Creative use of unique visual demonstratives and video to help the jurors create a memorable “plaintiff story”;
- Harnessing courtroom video and audio for use in witness examinations and closing arguments to cement the plaintiff story in our jurors’ minds;
Dave and Sarah will discuss and show video clips of their focus groups, voir dire, the opening, plaintiff and defense witness exams, and a closing and rebuttal that left the judge too tearful to read the jury instructions.
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