Erin Achenbach//January 9, 2025//
A plaintiff was awarded $34.1 million after a Jackson County jury found an intoxicated driver primarily at fault in a collision that left the victim with permanent injuries.
Christopher Coffee was awarded a net recovery of $27,304,560 million after the jury found defendant Randal White 80 percent at fault for the accident, while Coffee was found 20 percent at fault. The verdict came down Dec. 20 with Judge Kenneth Garrett III presiding.
The case stems from an accident that occurred in November 2021 at the intersection of Shawnee Mission Parkway and Hilltop Road in Shawnee, Kansas. Coffee suffered several injuries from the accident, including bowel perforations resulting in a colostomy, a fractured shoulder blade, a broken nose, facial laceration and a brain hemorrhage.
A year after the accident, Coffee underwent an attempted colostomy reversal, but it had been made permanent due to extensive scar tissue.
According to the suit, Coffee entered the intersection on a yellow left turn arrow, which turned red after his car passed the stop bar. The defendant, White, was westbound on Shawnee Mission Parkway when he crashed into Coffee, who was completing his lefthand turn onto Hilltop Road. The Shawnee Police Department’s reconstruction of the accident determined both vehicles were legally in the intersection at the time of the crash.
An investigation found that White first stopped at a red light on Shawnee Mission Parkway .3 miles from the crash site. When that light turned green, he accelerated quickly — ECM data shows that two seconds prior to the crash, he was doing 76 miles per hour, while the posted speed limit is 55. White did not brake until .5 seconds before crashing into Coffee — at which time White’s light turned green.
The suit states White had been consuming alcohol throughout the day at various bars and restaurants, and at the time of the crash his blood alcohol content was .20, 2.5 times the legal limit.
White would not admit that he was driving — alluding to the possibility that his fiancée was driving — but a witness saw White laying outside the driver’s door moments after, and White’s fiancée wedged in the passenger seat. The police concluded the primary causes of the crash were White’s excessive speed and intoxication.
Kevin Johnson, an accident reconstructionist called by the defense, testified Coffee caused the crash by entering the intersection late in the yellow cycle and despite White’s intoxication, he responded reasonably to Coffee’s vehicle coming into his lane. On cross-examination, Johnson was questioned about changes in his opinions from a prior phone call with the plaintiff’s counsel, which had been recorded with consent of both Johnson and the defense counsel.
While the accident took place in Kansas, it was filed in Jackson County because White’s driver license indicated that he was a Jackson County resident. Both parties agree Kansas Law would apply to substantive issues, and Missouri law to procedural issues. The plaintiff’s counsel asked for a 90/10 fault, since White would not admit that he was driving, while defense argued that since White had a green light, Coffee should be held at 2/3 fault.
“The jury spoke very clearly about what would and would not be tolerated in the community, both to the defendant and anyone else who might make the decisions he did,” said the plaintiff’s lead attorney, Blake Green of BG Law in North Kansas City.
“(Coffee) was a very deserving client whose life has been forever changed by the decisions made by the defendant … We thought his story would resonate with the jury,” Green said. “At the end of the day, I think our information and how the jury received that information was correct.”
The lead attorney for the defendant, Brad Tuck of Evans & Dixon in Springfield, could not be reached for comment.
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- Motor vehicle collision
- Amount of verdict, judgment or settlement: $34,130,700
- Breakdown and distribution of total value: $3,792,300 in actual damages, $30,338,400 in punitive damages and $27,304,560 net recovery.
- Allocation of fault: 80 percent to the defendant, 20 percent to the plaintiff
- Type of action: Motor vehicle collision
- Venue: Missouri
- Case Number/Date: 2216-CV02385, 12/20/2024
- Caption: Christopher Coffee v. Randal White
- Injuries alleged: Head, brain, neck, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand, digestive, gastrointestinal, emotional and psychological
- Special damages: $861,355.52 — past medical bills charged, $119,326.97 — paid to satisfy. The parties stipulated to these numbers before trial.
- Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Blake Green of BG Law in North Kansas City, and Eric Playter of Playter Trial Lawyers in Raytown
- Defendant’s Attorneys: Brad Tuck and Jacob Eddy of Evans & Dixon in Springfield.
- Insurance carriers: USAA, for defendant
- Defendant expert: Accident reconstructionist Kevin Johnson with Indiana-based Crash Consulting Services
This article credit to MOLawyersMedia