Update: Former TX SC chief justices to make arguments in McDonald's lawsuit on Friday ($27M verdict)
BRYAN, TEXAS -- Two former Texas Supreme Court chief justices hired by opposing sides in a lawsuit that resulted in a $27 million verdict against McDonald's will be in court Friday for arguments surrounding the judge's decision to uphold or overturn the jury's verdict.
The hearing will be the first time 361st District Judge Steve Smith has met with parties involved in the case since a Brazos County jury rendered the $27 million verdict -- the largest amount in damages awarded by a local jury -- in July after a seven-day trial concerning the February 2012 deaths of Blinn College students Denton Ward, 18, and Bailey Crisp, 19.
Since then, Wallace Jefferson, who served as chief of the Supreme Court from 2004 to 2013, has joined the team of plaintiffs attorneys hired to sue McDonald's, and Jefferson's predecessor as chief justice, Tom Phillips, who served on the Supreme Court from 1988 until 2004, has been hired for appeals purposes by McDonald's.
Ward and Crisp were pronounced dead after being involved in a car accident while Samantha Bean, Crisp's roommate, was attempting to get Ward and another friend, Tanner Giesen, to the hospital to be treated for injuries suffered in an assault at the McDonald's on University Drive in College Station.
Read more: http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/former-texas-supreme-court-chief-justices-to-make-arguments-in/article_a7b87ba8-7238-56ba-b8c8-0e6cb15fa248.html
Related thread:
Jury awards parents $27 million in College Station McDonald's negligence lawsuit (July 30, 2014)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107819845