In today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via the AP: "Jury gets case in Carnahan crash lawsuit."
The attorney for the family of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan said Tuesday that Parker Hannifin Corp.'s decision to mislead the public for 20 years about the safety of its vacuum pumps led directly to the plane crash that killed the governor, his son and a campaign aide.In his closing arguments in the Carnahans' case against Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin, attorney Gary Robb accused the company of knowing that its vacuum pumps led to 20 fatal plane crashes in 20 years - not including the one that killed the former governor; his son, Randy; and longtime aide Chris Sifford.
After more than two months of testimony from 50 witnesses, a Jackson County jury was given the case late Tuesday afternoon to decide if Parker Hannifin was negligent in the crash. The jury retired for the day and was set to return to deliberations today.
Meanwhile, to prove a point I made in the last post about the unrelenting news coverage of tort reform issues in this area, I submit these two articles, also from today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Many asbestos suits are fraudulent, professor says," by Paul Hampel; and "Illinois lawmaker will target awards for malpractice," by Kevin McDermott.
If the tort reform lobby had their way, victims of negligence would have no way to seek redress -- not even in cases of airplane crashes allegedly caused by faulty vacuum pumps.
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