Wrongful Death Lawyers

Recent Deaths Lead to Carbon Monoxide Regulation For North Carolina Hotels :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

October 8, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”

All hotels in North Carolina will now have to install carbon monoxide detectors in every room. The law is one of many new measures that officially go into effect on October 1st.

The new legislation is long overdue and sadly only passed after a tragic episode earlier this year at a Boone, NC hotel left several people dead. Investigators say that a carbon monoxide leak from a faulty indoor pool heater spread down a hall and into a room where three people were staying at the Best Western.

Investigators determined that the carbon monoxide leak led to the deaths of a couple from Washington state on April 16th as well as to the June 8th death of an 11-year-old boy from Rock Hill. The latter incident not only resulted in the death of the 11-year-old, but also in severe injuries to the boy’s mother who is still recovering from the carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide is often referred to as a silent killer, given that the gas is odorless and colorless and can cause serious illness or death in a matter of minutes. It is emitted from cars and other fuel-burning machines or appliances. A survey by the state revealed that carbon monoxide has killed some 400 people in North Carolina since 2001, 39 of whom were here in Mecklenburg County. The overwhelming majority of these deaths were accidental and were often caused by ordinary appliances such as grills or cars left running inside garages.

Not only do such accidents happen at home, but there have also been several occasions where hotel guests have been injured due to carbon monoxide leaks. Beyond the two incidents in Boone, another case out of Winston-Salem from earlier this year left two Charlotte residents severely ill after carbon monoxide poisoning in their hotel room. Back in 2008, eight guests at the Super 8 Motel in Raleigh were injured due carbon monoxide that came from a leaky water heater.

North Carolina Carbon Monoxide Deaths Receive Continued Scrutiny :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

July 16, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”

Police have revealed that they are continuing to investigate the Boone, NC hotel where three people have died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The deaths, which occurred separately across several months, all happened in the exact same hotel room at the Best Western Plus Blue Ridge Plaza. Authorities say they are also turning their attention towards two other hotels owned by the company because employees and equipment were shared between the businesses and police wonder whether other carbon monoxide issues might be present in those properties as well.

The case began when a couple from Washington State, Daryl and Shirley Jenkins, died on April 16th of what police later revealed was carbon monoxide poisoning. Despite the unusual cause of the death the hotel was never closed and continued placing guests in the exact same room, all without taking any action to correct the problem that led to the dangerously high carbon monoxide levels.

Two months later, on June 8th, an 11-year-old boy from Rock Hill, SC died and his mother was hospitalized in serious condition, both from carbon monoxide poisoning. The woman, Jeannie Williams, is still recovering from her injuries and according to her brother-in-law continues to walk with a walker while trying to regain complete use of her arms and legs.

The hotel has since been closed to all guests while the investigation continues. So far early reports indicate that a faulty pool heater may be to blame for the high levels of carbon monoxide in the room. Authorities have turned their attention to the Sleep Inn and the Country Inns & Suites, both in Boone and both owned by the same family and hotel management company. Police say they expect their investigation to continue throughout the month of July, at which point they say they will turn over all the evidence they gathered to the district attorney to consider filing criminal charges.

Young Boy Asphyxiates In Same North Carolina Motel Room As Elderly Couple, Police Blame Carbon Monoxide :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

May 30, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What if a loved one dies from the injuries sustained in a serious accident while the case is pending?”

A deadly incident of carbon monoxide poisoning is likely to blame for the recent death of an 11-year-old boy at a Boone, North Carolina motel room. Investigators say they believe the death may also be linked to the deaths of a couple found inside the exact same motel room several months ago.

Police say they found carbon monoxide in the room where the 11-year-old was staying over the weekend. A preliminary autopsy has shown that the boy died of asphyxia, a common cause of death when toxic gases cut off oxygen to the rest of the body. Officials with the medical examiner’s office say that they will run toxicology tests to determine exactly what was in the boy’s body at the time of his death.

The 11-year-old’s mother, Jeannie Williams, was also seriously injured and rushed to the hospital for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning. Police say the mother survived and is now recovering from her injuries.

Back in April, a couple from Washington State was found dead in the same room. Toxicology results have since confirmed that the two died of carbon monoxide poisoning. A spokesperson with the Boone Police Department says that investigators noticed the room is located very close to an indoor pool that is heated by a natural gas heater. Though the department is not willing to say officially that this was the cause of the carbon monoxide, it is one possible answer.

Charlotte Driver Charged In Deadly Tractor-Trailer Wreck :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

May 23, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “Are the laws or rules applying to a wrongful death claim different from a personal injury not involving death?”

Police in Winston-Salem say they have filed charges against a driver from Charlotte, NC after a deadly tractor-trailer accident on U.S. Highway 52 occurred earlier last month. Officers say they issued a warrant for Hiep Tan Truong’s arrest on Monday.

Authorities say Truong lost control of his commercial vehicle on U.S. 52 at the beginning of May and drove into a concrete median. The accident set off a chain reaction of collisions that involved four other vehicles and left several injured and one man dead.

Police say that Truong was driving his box truck at more than 15 miles per hour above the speed limit in the midst of a downpour. After hitting an oncoming car head-on, the truck continued and crashed into two more vehicles before finally overturning.

Police say Kenneth Leroy Baum was thrown from his Chevy Impala and died as a result of the accident. Truong was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle for his actions that morning and is being held under a $5,000 unsecured bond. Truong is not set to appear in court until June 24th.

Speeding Truck Driver Leaves Man Dead On North Carolina Highway :: Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

May 9, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What should I do if I have been injured by another party but I can’t afford a lawyer?”

A terrible accident on wet North Carolina roads left an innocent motorist dead earlier this month. Officials with the state highway patrol say that a truck driver, Hiep Truong, 45, was driving more than 15 miles per hour over the posted speed limit when he lost control of his tractor-trailer on wet, Winston-Salem roads.

Authorities say Truong was driving a produce vehicle for a Charlotte, NC company at the time of the wreck. The accident took place on U.S. 52 a little before afternoon rush hour. Police say it was pouring down rain at the time of the accident and the driver’s speed combined dangerously with the already slick roads.

According to emergency responders, the tractor-trailer was going more than 70 miles per hour in the rain near the Clemmonsville Road exit on 52 when the truck lost traction. At that point, the semi went out of control, crossing over the median and crashing head-on into an oncoming 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The Chevy was driven by Kenneth Baum, who was ejected from the car and died at the scene of the accident.

Police say that the truck continued moving south in the northbound lanes of 52 after striking the Chevy, hitting two more vehicles before finally rolling over onto its right side. Truong collided with a 2006 Ford and a 2009 Mazda, sending a shower of broken pieces of concrete onto several other vehicles. Thankfully none of the occupants in the other cars were injured in the terrible accident. Traffic along U.S. 52 was backed up for hours after.

North Carolina First Grader Killed In Bus Stop Hit-And-Run :: Workers’ Compensation Law Firm in Charlotte, NC

April 23, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What should I do if I have been injured by another party but I can’t afford a lawyer?”

In a tragic case out of North Carolina, a first grade girl was killed after being hit by a log truck driven by a drunk driver who illegally attempted to pass a stopped school bus. The fatal accident took place last Tuesday afternoon as a bus from Sampson County pulled up to a stop along Highway 421.

Police say around 3:45 p.m. the school bus was headed south on Highway 421 with the log truck some distance behind. After arriving at the scheduled stop, the bus came to a complete stop and activated its emergency alert, the stop sign swung out and the lights flashed. Then seven-year-old Alyiah McKenzie Morgan stepped off the bus and was hit by the log truck driven by Johnny Allen Spell.
Witnesses have said that the driver of the truck slowed down slightly, but never came to a complete stop and then sped around the stopped bus. Not only did the driver break the law by passing a stopped school bus, but he then compounded his legal troubles by fleeing the scene of the accident.

Police say an anonymous tip led to Spell’s eventual capture. The man was arrested several hours after the crash in Autryville, approximately 35 miles away from where the accident took place. Spell has since been charged with felony passing a stopped school bus, felony hit and run, DWI, DWI while operating a commercial motor vehicle and involuntary manslaughter. Spell remains behind bars on $200,000 bond.

Supreme Court Strikes Down North Carolina’s Medicaid Reimbursement Law :: Personal Injury Law Firm in Charlotte, NC

March 23, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A recent Supreme Court decision concerning a disabled North Carolina girl was recently handed down. The case, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services v. E.M.A., resulted in a 6-3 ruling that struck down a law allowing North Carolina officials to seize one-third of medical malpractice settlements won by Medicaid patients. The ruling affects not only North Carolina, but also other states that also use similar rules to reclaim portions of individual medical malpractice awards.

The Court wrote that federal Medicaid law prevents states like North Carolina from claiming such a large share of med mal awards. The purpose of the claim in the first place is to allow states to reimburse themselves for Medicaid money they spent on individuals who later went on to collect sizable sums. The Supreme Court decided that the amount contained in the North Carolina law was unreasonable and arbitrary. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said that North Carolina law acts as a one-size fits all approach and does not take into account individual circumstances.

In the case of the North Carolina family, which we previously discussed here, it means that they will be able to keep more of the $2.8 million awarded to Emily Armstrong in a recent medical malpractice case. Emily, who is only 13-years-old, was born with serious disabilities and requires constant care. The girl was diagnosed with cerebral palsy soon after her birth and is blind, deaf and mentally handicapped. The family sued her obstetrician, claiming that his history of drug abuse led to mistakes during the birthing process. The case was settled for millions which set in motion the recent Supreme Court case.

North Carolina officials caught wind of the big settlement and went after the Armstrongs for a cut of the money. The state said it spent more than $1.9 million in Medicaid funds paying for Emily’s medical care and that it should be allowed to try and recoup some of that money. The state then put a lien on $933,333.33, exactly one-third of the settlement.

E. Coli Outbreak At North Carolina State Fair Leads to $500,000 Lawsuit :: Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, North Carolina

March 19, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent article by WBTV, the family of a child who was hospitalized due to an E. coli outbreak has now filed suit against the North Carolina State Fair.

We discussed the case late last year and since that time the family of the 3-year-old boy gathered important information before filing their suit against the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Conservation.

The lawsuit was filed before the North Carolina Industrial Commission last week and claims that the boy’s injuries were the direct and proximate result of negligence by the State of North Carolina. Specifically, the suit alleges that North Carolina owed a duty to the claimant, his family and the public at large to keep the State Fairground safe.

The family of the young boy says that the State failed to keep the fairgrounds safe by not sufficiently cleaning the animal holding areas inside the main building on the site. The public was put at serious risk because of the multiple surfaces in the building that had E. coli present and the fact that the State encouraged the public to eat and drink inside the building, making use of those contaminated surfaces. The state also failed to provide a sufficient number of hand washing stations for the public. The family’s attorneys pointed out that the state even failed to live up to its own specific guidelines about proper disposal of animal waste.

The little boy’s family is still hurting from the incident back in 2011. They have found themselves saddled with massive hospital bills and have already depleted their savings account trying to pay medical bills that continue arriving every day. Given the financial harm suffered by the family and the physical harm suffered by the boy, they are asking that the state be responsible for paying $500,000.

Auto Deaths Rise In 2012 For First Time In Eight Years :: Personal Injury Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, North Caroilna

January 29, 2013 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to statistics released by the National Safety Council, the number of traffic deaths across the country increased by around 5% last year. Tragically, the increase in traffic deaths would make for the first time the number of road fatalities has increased in eight years.

The group said that last year 36,200 people died in auto accidents on the nation’s roadways. The number of people injured enough in such accidents to require medical attention also rose by a corresponding 5%, reaching an astonishing 3.9 million people. The financial toll of auto accidents is also significant, with billions wasted in lost wages, lost productivity, hospital bills and property damage. The estimate was that in 2012, expenses associated with auto accidents rose to $276.6 billion.

These numbers are slightly better than the ones released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in December. Those numbers showed that for the first nine moths of 2012, traffic deaths had risen 7.1%. This 7.1% increase was the largest increase in traffic fatalities since 1975; the year the NHTSA began collecting such data.

The National Safety Council has pointed to an increase in teen driving deaths and deaths due to distracted driving as being partially to blame for the increase in road deaths. The organization says it must be a priority by Congress and state legislatures to address such safety issues to ensure that 2013 does not see a similar increase in road deaths.

Trucking Accident Lawyers and Attorneys in Charlotte, NC :: Court Says Texting Trucker Ultimately Responsible for Damage

December 20, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

An opinion from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week revealed that the Court affirmed a summary judgment ruling issued by a lower court that held a trucking dispatching system manufacturer should be dismissed from a personal injury lawsuit. The court held that the company could not be responsible for a crash that was caused by a texting driver.

The case is important because of the facts it presents. In the case, Durkee v. Geologic Solutions, Inc., the plaintiff sued after a truck crash occurred on Route 40 in North Carolina. The driver of the tractor-trailer rear-ended several cars that were in front of him. The accident was powerful and ultimately deadly, resulting in the tragic death of one of the plaintiffs’ infants.

The plaintiffs consulted North Carolina personal injury attorneys and began filing claims against all the usual suspects. Included in this group of defendants was a surprising addition, the company that made a texting system located inside the cab of the truck. The plaintiffs made two arguments to try and hold the company liable. First, they said that the texting system required the driver of the truck to divert his attention from the road to read the text messages coming from the dispatcher. Second, the system was poorly designed in that it allowed the driver to receive text messages while the vehicle was in motion. The plaintiffs said that both of these things contributed to the deadly wreck and make the company liable.