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BROOKSVILLE - It took a Hernando County jury slightly more than an hour to award a mother who had lost her daughter to a drunken driver $330 million.
The all-woman panel awarded Angela Stone $55 million in compensatory damages and $275 million in punitive damages in the April 12, 2007, death of her 13-year-old daughter Shelby Taylor Hagman.
Hagman was riding in her grandparents' KIA Sedona van when Christopher S. Marcone ran a stop sign at the intersection of Park Ridge Road and Sherman Hills Boulevard, just north of State Road 50.
I'm sure the jury thought they were sending a message that drunken drivers would not be tolerated. I wonder if they considered that the form of the message would have unintended effects as well. The driver was already sentenced to jail time. So whatever assets he has will be disposed of, but won't even come close to paying off this award. The insurance company will pay to the limits of the policy, and they'll probably raise premiums to cover their losses, and make insurance even harder to obtain. I appreciate how devastating the family's loss was, but awards like this are part of the problem with the insurance industry as a whole.
Personally I think it makes the parents look bad when this type of thing happens. There is no amount of money that is going to bring your loved one back and it looks like you are just using the death to earn a buck to me.
Had their child been left with some serious medical bills I can understand
Remember that woman who sued McDonald's when she spilled hot coffee on her lap? She sued for an astronomical figure, too. And when it was all said and done, the judge awarded her $1 (so that she could buy another cup of coffee--and hopefully recognize that hot coffee is supposed to be, well, hot!) An award of $330 million makes for some nice, juicy headlines. But nobody should think anyone is actually going to walk out of the courtroom with that much.
Of course, having one's daughter killed by a drunk driver isn't the same thing as spilling coffee on your lap. But the end result of a huge award will be the same.
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