Accident Reconstruction Network > News > March 2006

Accident Reconstruction News Article

Woman awarded $2.5M
In 2004 car crash
By SHAWN HOPKINS - Bulletin Staff Writer

A Henry County Circuit Court jury has awarded $2.5 million in damages to a woman who was injured in a 2004 collision involving a state trooper.

According to attorneys in the case, the jury ruled in favor of Lisa Cobbler Johnson on Friday after a three-day trial and about three hours of deliberation.

The jury found that evidence in the trial supported Johnson’s claim that former Virginia State Trooper A.J. Hairston was negligent during the June 7, 2004, accident and awarded her a total of $2.5 million for injuries and her loss of ability to work, attorneys said.

Johnson’s attorney, Phil Gardner, said $2.5 million is a lot of money but considering Johnson’s injuries, he does not think it is “out of line.” Johnson’s injuries include permanent disability, facial disfigurement, partial loss of vision in her left eye, permanent loss of cognitive function, loss of memory and headaches, according to Gardner and a report about the case Gardner said he will file with Virgina Lawyer’s Weekly.

According to earlier Martinsville Bulletin reports, the accident happened when Hairston, a 20-year veteran trooper, was responding to what he mistakenly believed was an emergency call from another officer.

His police cruiser and Johnson’s vehicle collided near the intersection of Virginia 57 and Mt. Olivet Road, according to reports. Both he and Johnson were seriously injured in the crash. Johnson was 35 at the time of the accident and Hairston was 49; their current ages were not available Tuesday.

Johnson had to be extricated from her 2000 Dodge Intrepid, and Hairston’s cruiser caught fire. He was pulled out of it by a bystander, reports indicated.

Varying testimony was given both at Hairston’s trial on a reckless driving charge in the incident, in which he was found not guilty in March 2005, and in the civil trial, according to Gardner.

Witnesses in the reckless driving trial, including Hairston, said Johnson’s car did not stop at a stop sign, according to Bulletin reports at the time. Johnson said she has no memory of the accident. Witnesses estimated that Hairston’s car reached speeds between 70 and 94 mph and, according to testimony at his reckless driving trial, although his emergency lights were on, his siren was not in a position in which it could be used, the Bulletin reported.

Gardner said he was able to prove Johnson’s civil case with the help of key witnesses, including several troopers.

“Even though the case was against a Virginia state trooper, the investigation done by the Virginia State Police was extremely professional and extremely thorough,” he said.

Gardner said data from the police car’s crash data recorder showed the trooper was traveling at 94 mph and only braked two seconds before the crash. In materials that will be released to Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly, Gardner said the evidence proved that the trooper had about 400 feet of sight distance when he approached the intersection but would have needed 600 feet to stop.

“What the case boiled down to was the high rate of speed at a dangerous intersection,” he said.

Also “critical to the case,” he said, was testimony by Lenmuel Terry of the State Police that Hairston’s behavior was inconsistent with his training and standard procedures.

Gardner said his client was “relieved” at the outcome.

“She had been accused of causing this wreck by running the stop sign,” he said, and even though she had no memory of the collision, she knew in her heart that was not so, he said.

Hairston’s attorney, James McGarry, said the $2.5 million award was high.

“I think it’s a very high award, yes,” he said.

McGarry said Hairston sympathizes with Johnson and her family but believes he was not at fault in the accident.

“Mr. Hairston feels that he was responding to an emergency call as he had been trained and he did nothing wrong,” he said. “It was a terrible accident. Miss Johnson’s life was changed in the accident, and Mr. Hairston’s life was changed in the accident.”

Hairston is disabled because of the accident and no longer works as a state trooper, McGarry said.

Hairston has about 30 days after a final order is issued to appeal the ruling. The final order is expected within a week to 10 days after March 9.

“That decision (to appeal) hasn’t been made yet,” McGarry said.

McGarry said he believes the award will be paid through state insurance. The report Gardner said he intends to file with Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly lists the commonwealth of Virginia, Division of Risk Management, as the insurance carrier in the case.

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