King County jury awards $123 million to victims of Ride the Ducks crash
The jury determined after a four-month civil trial that Ride the
Awards to each of the 40 plaintiffs will range from
The amount awarded for economic and noneconomic damages was less than the
But Koehler said she was pleased with the jurors' decision and said they did exactly what they were asked to do.
She said the jurors believed the plaintiffs' stories and believed them. They recognized, Koehler added, that even the victims who suffered less severe physical injuries "were not OK."
"This jury was always on top of this case and we couldn't have asked any more of them," she said following the verdict.
Koehler said she hopes the verdict will lead to Ducks vehicles being taken off the road.
In an emailed statement, Ride the Ducks of
"Since the accident, we've made significant structural changes to the critical parts of our vehicles and instituted a program of regular testing, done in addition to inspections conducted by the state and
Jurors, who had been deliberating since
The 2016 lawsuit, filed on behalf of 40 people who were injured or killed in the crash, claimed that the former owner of Ride the
Ride the Ducks of
Attorney
All the other Ducks licensees and franchisees, except for
Ride the Ducks of
In addition, a welding expert called to the stand by Ride the Ducks of
Attorneys for the city and state denied responsibility, saying it was caused not by a defect in the roadway but by the actions, or inactions, of the two Ducks companies. Nevertheless, both the city and state last year settled with the families of 12 crash victims.
The crash killed five
Investigators with the
Last year, the manufacturer and the
The
The current trial featured 11 lawyers, testimony from more than two dozen experts and nearly 90 witnesses, including injured victims and relatives of the dead. There were almost 100 pages of jury instructions and verdict forms.
In her closing, Koehler listed the names of each of her 40 clients, outlined their injuries and spoke of what was taken from them. She asked jurors to award each victim
Attorneys for the two Ducks companies emphasized in their closings the need for jurors to be reasonable and fair in awarding damages. "This, more than anything, is about common sense," Snyder said.
Civil trials differ from criminal trials in that the burden of proof is not as high. In order to convict, juries in criminal trials must unanimously agree that the evidence of guilt against the suspect is "beyond reasonable doubt." In a civil trial in
Also in
Most of the damages, if not all, will be paid by the insurance companies that underwrite the various companies and entities involved.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story gave the incorrect date for the Ride the Ducks crash.
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