Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matt Arnold answers the question: “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”
After the killing of George Floyd by police, protests erupted all across the United States. The protests resulted in injuries, store break-ins, damage to businesses, and arrests nationwide.
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”
With stories like those of Walter Scott in South Carolina or Eric Garner in New York City getting so much attention, experts say that it was only a matter of time before attorneys got in on the cases. As the public’s attention has turned to incident of police brutality and governments appear to acknowledge the problem with record-setting payouts, lawyers, especially those previously limiting their work to personal injury matters, have begun accepting police misconduct cases.
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”
Jewel Hall, the mother of a 49-year-old mentally disabled man shot dead by Saginaw, Michigan police officers in 2012, is campaigning for justice for her son.
Milton Hall was confronted by eight police officers after he refused to pay for coffee at a mini mart. After Hall brandished and refused to drop a penknife, officers unloaded 46 shots at Hall, striking him 14 times before he hit the ground, killing him instantly.
Ms. Hall said that after the shooting, an officer turned Milton Hall over and handcuffed him, then put his foot on Hall’s back while blood ran “down the street like water.”
The American Civil Liberties Union released a video of Hall’s shooting this week after a presentation to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights detailing racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Mr. Hall was African-American, while all the police officers involved in his shooting were white.
Ms. Hall said the Department of Justice investigated the shooting but refused to press charges. The State of Michigan likewise declined to prosecute any of the officers. Two officers were disciplined by the police department, and a supervisor was demoted.
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”
The wife of an inmate who died of dehydration after two stints in solitary confinement has hired an attorney to pursue potential legal claims, the inmate’s sister has revealed.
Prison officials accused 54-year-old inmate Michael Anthony Kerr of flooding his cell, according to an autopsy released in September. Prison staff are permitted to switch off the water flowing to an inmate’s sink and toilet if the inmate is found to have misused “plumbing facilities,” according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Kerr died on March 12 after he was found unresponsive in the back of a van while being transported from Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville to a mental hospital at Raleigh’s Central Prison.
It is unclear whether prison officials turned off the water to Kerr’s cell. Records obtained by the Associated Press showed that Kerr was placed in “administrative segregation” in February. He was cited twice—on the 21st and again on the 24th of February—for flooding his cell. Kerr was also cited for disobeying orders and for “lock tampering,” although, according to WCNC, inmates can be cited for lock tampering if they “repeatedly bang on the steel doors of their cells.”
Kerr was moved into “disciplinary segregation,” or solitary confinement, on February 25. Medical Examiner Dr. Susan E. Venuti, who conducted Kerr’s autopsy, said that she was allowed to read an internal prison report regarding Kerr’s death, but she was not allowed to make a copy of the report. She said the report failed to answer key questions such as when Kerr had last consumed food or water. Venuti could not even classify whether Kerr’s death was natural, accidental or the result of a homicide, given the lack of information.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What if the medical condition improves before the hearing?”
A recent accident in New Jersey involving actor and comedian Tracy Morgan highlights the extreme dangers posed by exhausted drivers. The crash earlier this month left the former 30 Rock star in critical condition and has now led to criminal charges for the driver of the tractor-trailer responsible for the accident.
Police say the chain-reaction crash began when a tractor-trailer driver, Kevin Roper, collided with Morgan’s chauffeured limousine bus. Morgan was heading back home from a comedy show in Delaware with a group of friends at the time. The accident spread out across the interstate and left one member of Morgan’s entourage dead and two others critically injured. Morgan and the others were airlifted to nearby hospitals for treatment and several remain in intensive care even now.
The driver of the truck has been charged with death by auto and also faces four counts of assault by auto related to the crash. The trucker was given a $50,000 bail and has now hired an attorney to fight for his freedom.
Given the seriousness of the crash and the involvement of a commercial motor vehicle, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board stepped in to examine what may have caused the accident. A recent report issued by the NTSB says that the driver of the rig that slammed into Morgan’s van was speeding at the time of the crash and was likely exhausted from working more than 13 consecutive hours.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “The insurance adjuster is saying I am partially negligent what does that mean?”
Police in Gaston County, North Carolina say that five people have been injured after a car and an ambulance were involved in a crash. The wreck occurred in the later afternoon and took place on a busy stretch of highway.
According to officers with the North Carolina Highway Patrol, the crash occurred when an ambulance operated by two EMTS was hit by an oncoming car carrying three people. The ambulance was from the Stanley Fire and Rescue and was in the process of responding to an emergency call at the time of the accident.
Emergency responders say that four of those injured in the accident were ultimately transported to CaroMont Regional Medical Center for serious but non-life threatening injuries. The other person was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and is said to have suffered serious harm.
Stunningly, the terrible accident was caught on video thanks to in-cabin cameras located on the newer ambulances operated by Stanley Fire and Rescue. The driver of the ambulance was Roger Arrowood, a part-time employee who survived with relatively minor injuries.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”
A North Carolina Senate committed has added language to a piece of legislation that will now require drivers of mopeds to purchase liability insurance before legally operating the vehicles on state roadways. The measure, House Bill 1145, has already been approved by the house, though the new language will need to be agreed to before the bill progresses any further.
The language attached by the Senate says that moped drivers are required to register their vehicles with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, in addition to purchasing liability coverage. Moped drivers will have until July 1, 2015 to comply with the new regulations.
Under current North Carolina law, mopeds are not among those vehicles that must be registered or insured in the state. Mopeds are also not subject to any property taxes, allowing owners to essentially avoid any fees associated with their use.
The new measure would require moped owners to pay a $15 registration fee as well as demonstrate to the Division of Motor Vehicles that the moped was designed and manufactured specifically for highway use. These requirements mirror those for motorcyclists, something that some legislators believe is necessary to guarantee the safety of all North Carolina motorists.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”
Police in Charlotte say that a recent deadly accident likely involved high rates of speed and alcohol. Law enforcement officials say they believe the two risky behaviors combined to cause the death of a four-month-old girl as well as injuries to five other people.
Police officers say that a 21-year-old driver was seriously injured in the accident and is believed to be responsible for the collision. The man, Thabiti Ashim Pierre-Louis, has been charged with felony death by vehicle, reckless driving, possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The wreck happened around three in the afternoon when Pierre-Louis was in his 2000 Nissan Altima heading north along Old Statesville Road. Investigators say they believe that the 21-year-old then tried to pass another car, but eventually lost control and crashed into a telephone pole located near the driver’s door.
The force of the collision resulted in the car being flipped, landing on its roof. Given the position of the car, it’s understandable why the accident resulted in such severe injuries to passengers. The four-month-old child sustained critical injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by emergency medical responders.
Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can my employer fire me because I filed a workers’ compensation claim?”
A New Jersey woman is driving workplace discrimination claims in a new direction, claiming that congested roadways on her work commute aggravated her “great anxiety and depression.” The woman, Andrea DeGerolamo, doesn’t blame Gov. Chris Christie for the congestion; instead, she blames her former employer, Fulton Financial Corp., for not letting her change her work schedule to avoid it.
DeGerolamo alleged in the suit that her doctor mandated the change in commuting times after determining that DeGerolamo was clinically depressed and that her condition was “especially aggravated by crowded roadways during the heavy traffic of rush hour.”
Fulton hired DeGerolamo in 2007 as a marketing coordinator. In her suit – premised upon New Jersey’s workplace antidiscrimination act – she alleged that Fulton refused “to enter into an interactive dialogue… aimed at reaching a reasonable accommodation.”
DeGerolamo alleged that she took a medical leave of absence in 2012, but after returning to work she was terminated. She said her termination amounted to discrimination, based on her efforts to “address alleged workplace bias.” She also alleged that Fulton retaliated against her for using the Family Medical Leave Act to take some time off.
In the lawsuit, DeGerolamo sought damages for lost wages and benefits, front pay, medical insurance, punitive damages, emotional distress damages, and attorneys’ fees. Fulton has removed the case to Federal Court, where it is pending in the New Jersey District.
Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” I have been injured on another person’s property. What should I do now?”
If Carole King still feels the earth moving under her feet, it may not be Carolina’s own James Taylor. Soon it could be Carolina herself.
With Gov. McCrory’s signature on new legislation, the Tar Heel State took some giant steps towards beginning hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) – a process of natural gas extraction that uses horizontal drilling and the injection of sand, water and chemicals into shale formations deep underground. Fissures made in the formations by the injections allow natural gas to rise to the surface, where it is captured.
The state legislature has been working on the issue since at least 2010. North Carolina’s 1945 Oil and Gas Conservation Act prohibited horizontal drilling, so legislators had to change the law in order to sanction hydraulic fracturing.
While the state legislature has been moving to the right in recent years, the “fracking” legislation – rife with apparent political and corporate cronyism – leaves little over which Conservatives can crow.
An unelected commission is tasked with “energy modernization,” which means local communities that do not want hydraulic fracturing will be forced to accept it. If a community wants to know how a company plans to conduct its operation, it can’t.
If you get sick and your doctor wants to know what chemicals you might have been exposed to, he or she can find out, but only after signing a written waiver promising not to tell anyone. Ditto on the fire chief; he or she has to sign a written waiver while the inferno is raging because a “fracking” company’s intellectual property is more important than putting out a fire. If “fracking” information leaks – no pun intended – the leaker is a criminal.
The bottom line on “fracking” is the legislature has said “We’re doing this, you’re not going to stop us, and we’re not even going to tell you how we’re doing it. Ever.”
Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog