North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

The family of Alejandro Gonzales Reyes has filed a North Carolina wrongful death lawsuit against the Palomino nightclub and the owners of the shopping center where the now-defunct business was located. Reyes was fatally shot on January 11 outside the club. Now, the 31-year-old’s estate is seeking financial recovery for the two young children that he left behind.

The defendants named in the Fayetteville, North Carolina wrongful death complaint are Bayview Financial L.P., Bayview Loan Servicing LLC, Palomino of Fayetteville Inc., and Sophia and Bill Agapion.

According to the Fayetteville, North Carolina wrongful death complaint, a court order had been issued to the mortgage company and the Agapions to stop criminal activity at the shopping center. State law also allowed them to evict the club for such offenses.

The Reyes’ North Carolina wrongful death attorney says that the 31-year-old might still be alive today if only the defendants had followed the court order. He cites inadequate security in the parking lot and at the club.

Last year, Fayetteville police sued Bill, Palomino, and Bayview. The complaint claimed that the shopping complex was a public nuisance. The lawsuit contended that a number of clubs on the property, including South Beach, Palomino, and Crazy Dave’s Cabaret, were a burden because of the number of assaults, break-ins, drug crimes, and shootings that occurred at the three night spots and in their parking lots. In March, three weeks after Reyes was killed, a judge ordered all three clubs, and a fourth one, permanently shut down.

Premises Liability
A property owner or overseer can be sued for North Carolina premises liability or wrongful death if there was a history of crimes committed on the property or in the area and the defendant did not do enough to protect patrons, visitors, and others from becoming the victims of similar crimes. Premises owners must provide proper security so that violent crimes and petty crimes do not cause injury or death.

Man's estate sues Palomino nightclub, others over slaying, FayeObserver, December 30, 2009

Suspect arrested, charged in bar shooting, ABC Local, January 11, 2009

A football fan who says that he was assaulted by Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason is suing the football player for North Carolina personal injury. Gregory Frye says Beason beat him in Charlotte on November 15 for telling another Panthers football player that he had seen the linebacker “doing coke with some girl” at Lake Norman last June.

On November 30, police arrested Beason. The 24-year-old linebacker, who is one of the football team’s captains and the leading tackler, denied the assault and drug allegations. He was charged with aggravated assault over the incident, but the misdemeanor charge was dropped due to insufficient evidence. Frye’s North Carolina injury attorney, however, says that his client will continue pursuing his claim.

According to the Charlotte, North Carolina injury lawsuit, Beason's bodyguard told Frye, 29, that the football player wasn’t happy with his comments and wanted to talk to him. Frye says he suggested to Beason that they talk outside.

He says Beason punched him on the face. After he fell to the ground, he claims he was kicked and then hit on the head. Frye says he didn’t fight back. In his North Carolina personal injury complaint Frye claims that Beason admitted to striking the plaintiff.

Frye is seeking damages greater than $10,000. He says he sustained a facial fracture and a crushed nasal cavity, and he suffered swelling on the left side of his head from the alleged assault.

Charlotte, North Carolina Personal Injury
Persons who have been injured during an altercation or are victims of violent crimes may have grounds for suing an assailant for North Carolina personal injury. This claim is separate from criminal charges filed by prosecutors. This means that even if charges are dropped or a person is found not guilty by a jury, you still may be able to obtain personal injury recovery.

Aggravated assault charges dropped against Panthers' player Jon Beason, Global Grind, December 11, 2009

Pro Bowl LB Beason charged with aggravated assault at strip club, Gaston Gazette, December 1, 2009

Man files civil lawsuit against Panthers' Beason, Charlotte Observer, December 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Jon Beason, NFL

Carolina Panthers

Types of Personal Injury Damages, Justia

Last month, a jury ruled against Pfizer in the dangerous drug lawsuit filed by a breast cancer survivor who used the hormone replacement drugs Prempro, Premarin, and Provera. The verdict in favor of plaintiff Donna Kendall: $28 million in punitive damages and $6.3 million in compensatory damages.

The 66-year-old woman was diagnosed with breast cancer after taking Provera and Prempro for 11 years. According to the civil jury, the three drugs contributed to causing Kendall’s breast cancer. Jury members also found that Pfizer failed to adequately warn consumers about the dangers linked to using the hormone replacement medications.

This dangerous drug verdict comes just one month after another jury ordered Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, now owned by Pfizer, to pay $75 million to a woman because she developed breast cancer after taking Prempro. Connie Barton took the hormone drug from 1997 until 2002 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Barton underwent a mastectomy to remove her left breast to combat the disease. She says she started taking Prempro because her doctor told her it could prevent dementia and heart disease.

Prempro and Premarin are used to treat menopause. The drugs are used by millions of Americans women who have menopause. They were told that using the HRTs could prevent major illnesses. Provera is used to treat secondary amenorrhea, abnormal uterine bleeding, and endometrial hyperplasia.

However, recent findings have linked Premarin and Prempro to breast cancer, ovarian cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Plaintiffs have filed some 13,000 products liability lawsuits against Pfizer claiming the hormone replacement drugs caused cancer and other issues.

Cancer is a serious illness. If a pharmaceutical drug caused your cancer, you may be able to obtain dangerous drug compensation from the negligent pharmaceutical company that manufactured the drug and/or failed to tell you about the associated risks.

Pfizer Ordered to Pay $34.3 Million in HRT Lawsuit, MedPage Today, November 24, 2009

Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma, NY Times, December 12, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pfizer

Hormone Replacement Therapy, Medline Plus

Continue reading "Dangerous Drug Lawsuit: Jury Orders Pfizer to Pay $38.4 Million To Breast Cancer Survivor Who Used Hormone Replacement Drugs" »

A Charlotte, North Carolina wrongful death settlement has been reached between the city and the family of Kay Plyler. The agreement comes today just as jury selection in the civil trial was about to begin.

Plyler died in March 2008 when a tree fell on the car that she and her daughter Taylor, then 14, were riding in. Plyler, who was crushed in the freak accident died from her injuries. Tyler survived the falling tree accident but was injured.

The Plyler family’s North Carolina wrongful death attorneys have claimed that the city of Charlotte was aware that the tree’s root system was decaying yet failed to warn the public that the tree was dangerous. Meantime, Charlotte’s lawyers had argued that the city was unaware that the tree roots were rotting.

The terms of the Charlotte wrongful death settlement is confidential and settlement amount still needs to be approved by the Charlotte City Council. Attorneys for both sides say that the money will cover Taylor’s college education. Plyler’s son and husband were also awarded damages.

Getting hit by a falling tree, especially a large one, can cause serious injuries to victims. Just last week, a 33-year-old man filed a personal injury lawsuit against the city of New York, Central Park, and the Central Park Conservancy for the spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries he sustained when a limb from one of the trees in the park struck him last summer. According to statistics, between 1995 – 2007, more than four hundred people were killed in accidents involving falling limbs or trees.

Premise owners can be held liable for North Carolina premises liability or wrongful death if there is a hazard on the property that could have or should have been remedied but wasn’t and, as a result, causes injury or death. Rotting trees are more at risk of falling when the soil is soggy or the winds are high. It is a premise owner’s responsibility to ensure that this doesn’t happen.

Settlement Reached In Wrongful Death Lawsuit, WSCOTV, December 7, 2009

City settles suit over fatal tree accident, Charlotte Observer, December 9, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Kay Plyler, Death Notice, Charlotte Observer, March 14, 2008

Recognizing Tree Hazards, Trees are Good

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is examining some 17,000 bridges to determine if safety measures can be taken to prevent more fatal falls. On Friday, 33-year-old Carroll Lee Eames fell to his death while helping the car crash victims of a multi-vehicle wreck on the Interestate-440 bridge on the Outer Beltline.

Police say Eames fell through the gap between two bridges as he jumped over a concrete barrier to avoid being hit by an oncoming vehicle. Unfortunately, a 30-foot drop to Crabtree Creek awaited him on the other side of the barrier and Eames died from injuries he sustained during the fall accident.

In October 2005, 26-year-old Todd Fletcher died when he fell off the Inner Beltline Bridge while also helping North Carolina car accident victims. Fletcher’s father, Done Fletcher, filed a North Carolina wrongful death claim over the tragic accident.

According to Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, the NDCOT did put up a fence to prevent people from going over the edge on the Inner Beltline side, but there is no such barrier on the Outer Beltline side where Eames’s North Carolina fall accident happened. The opening that separates the two bridges is about five feet.

Eames’s father, Caroll Eames Sr., is quoted in the NewsObserver.com as saying that he feels that the state “took my son’s life away.” Eames Sr. says that the state must have known that area was a safety hazard.

Luis Jesus Coyt, a passenger in one of the vehicles involved in the North Carolina car crash that Eames Jr. was assisting with also fell off the Outer Beltline bridge. He sustained minor injuries.

Currently, the NCDOT lacks guidelines requiring that all bridges have standard protective rails. In several instances, fences were added to certain bridges after pedestrians had already fallen.

North Carolina Premises Liability
Property owners and managers can be held liable for North Carolina premises liability if a hazard on a premise contributed to causing personal injury or wrongful death and that danger could have or should have been remedied.

Accident spurs state to study bridges, NewsObserver.com, December 1, 2009

Good Samaritan falls from I-440 bridge, dies, CharlotteObserver, November 28, 2009

NC DOT begins bridge study after fatal plunge, WECT, December 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Department of Transportation

North Carolina Bridge Information

Continue reading "NC DOT to Study State Bridges Following Second Fatal Fall" »

The family of 34-year-old Larry D. Green is asking North Carolina’s Court of Appeals to let them sue Louisburg paramedics for personal injury. State law usually protects civil servants from being sued for North Carolina personal injury if the alleged negligence occurred while the worker was doing his or her job. However, a lower court judge has already ruled that J.B. Perdue, the former medical examiner for Franklin County, should be sued in civil court for his role in the catastrophic mix-up.

Green was injured in January 2005 in a North Carolina pedestrian accident when he was struck by a car as he crossed a highway north of Louisburg. A local paramedic declared him dead after feeling for a pulse. The worker never attempted to resuscitate him.

The paramedic then asked a county paramedic to check Green for a pulse. The second paramedic, however, said he trusted the first paramedic’s judgment and did not check the victim.

The North Carolina personal injury lawsuit accuses Perdue, then the Franklin County medical examiner, of ignoring signs that Green was not dead, including eye twitching and chest movement. Green was placed in a body bag and transported to a morgue.

It wasn’t until 2 ½ hours later when a North Carolina Highway trooper asked the medical examiner to help figure out from which direction the auto had struck Green did Perdue realize that the victim was still alive.

Green’s family and guardian say that wrongly declaring him dead when he was, in fact, still alive caused him to sustain injures that have left him bedridden in a rest home where he is fed through a tube and cared for 24 hours/day. Franklin County and the family reached a $1 million North Carolina injury settlement earlier this year.

Court weighing right to sue over mistaken death, Winston-Salem Journal, November 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Tort Liability

Wrongful Death, Nolo

Continue reading "Appeals Court Considers Whether Family Has Right to Sue for North Carolina Personal Injury After Pedestrian Was Mistakenly Declared Dead" »