The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear the review of a what is known as a “nuclear” verdict in a death case that is nearly 10 years old.
Last month the court agreed to review the lower court’s verdict that awarded a plaintiff family who sued Werner Enterprises and won more than $100 million in damages.
According to court documents, Werner Enterprises Inc. and driver Shiraz A. Ali frame their appeal as raising six issues: (1) legal and factual sufficiency with respect to the jury’s negligence liability finding against the driver (Ali), (2) legal and factual sufficiency with respect to the jury’s negligence liability findings against the trucking company (Werner), (3) jury charge issues, (4) apportionment issues, (5) admission of five different pieces of evidence, and (6) the jury’s award of future medical care expenses.
According to court records, Trey Salinas was driving a vehicle with Jennifer Blake and her three children on eastbound Interstate 20 near Odessa, Texas on December 30, 2014, during a National Weather Service Winter Storm Warning. Salinas lost control of the vehicle and it crossed the 42-foot-wide grassy median before colliding with an 18-wheeler traveling over 40 miles per hour. Ali was driving the 18-wheeler owned by Werner.
As a result of the collision, seven-year-old Zachery Blake died, his 12-year-old sister, Brianna Blake, suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and was rendered a quadriplegic, and fourteen-year-old Nathan Blake suffered a broken shoulder blade, broken collar bone, bruised lung, and other injuries. Jennifer Blake suffered a mild traumatic brain injury, contusions, a hematoma, and other injuries.
Court documents state that Ali had scored an 8 out of 21 on his most recent evaluation, two weeks prior to the accident and that his trainer was asleep in the truck at the time of the accident.
The case has been in litigation for several years including the lower court ruling in 2018 and a Court of Appeals agreement of the verdict last year which prompted Werner to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
The date of the hearing before the Supreme Court is set for December.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
I’m not familiar with this case, but if the facts are true as stated how does Trey Salinas avoid responsibility from this tragedy? He didn’t just drive 42 feet straight across the median, he had to have been in the median much longer than 42 feet. Where was the guard rail that would have prevented his being so far off his right of way? This is another case of a foolish jury just going after the hard working truck drivers and trucking companies.
I think that this case is tragic. I am a truck driver of almost 19 years now and reading this article scares me to death that the trucking company is liable for an accident that was caused by someone who had no place on the interstate with the weather as is was and especially putting children’s lives in such a predicament. Truck drivers are trained to be professionals and truck drivers need and should be trained to drive in all kinds of weather ( that is really a job requirement ) . Civilians ( the general public that drive cars , pickups , motor homes etc.. ) as truckers call them should be more accountable for their actions once they step outside their doors from their home. driving is a right not a privilege. Civilians need to stop having the adolescence mentality and take more precautions. I think there should be check points for smaller vehicles to be inspected by the highway patrol to make sure their vehicles are in proper working condition , then the public would get a taste of what commercial vehicles go through on a daily basis.
I am so thankful I never had children , I would hate to try and raise a decent human being in such a terrible corrupt world we live in.
Those of us domiciled in Texas have been watching this for a while and I’m glad to hear the state supreme court is taking a look at it. This case was truly egregious in the way the plaintiff’s attorneys diverted the accident’s cause from the auto driver and used the “Reptile Theory” strategy to make the carrier look like a major threat to the public that needed to be taught a lesson. In fact, the verdict was bad enough to move the legislature to pass some reforms that enables a defendant to make the plaintiff prove fault before they can go after the money.
I sincerely wish the outcome for Werner to be absolved and dissolute the case. The accident victims have been compensated and now let there be justice be done. Many see Big Trucking Companies as targets for suing and sue. Don’t allow any more suffering to come to Werner.