Major Wrongful Death Lawsuits and Decisions

There have been a number of well known wrongful death lawsuits to capture a great deal of publicity in the United States but none have approached the coverage given to the O.J. Simpson case. The former NFL running back was cleared of all criminal charges in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Their families were upset with the decision of the jury and decided to bring a civil action of their own against Simpson for causing the deaths.

In civil court, the burden of proof is not as high as in criminal court and in the wrongful death lawsuit there was a different outcome. For the second trial, attorneys only had to show that by a preponderance of the evidence O.J Simpson caused the deaths; they didn’t have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt as is required in criminal cases. The conflicting verdict surprised people across the country and the jury awarded the victims families over $30 million dollars in damages.

One of the other high-profile wrongful death lawsuits to grab headlines involved the Nancy Grace show. The network which produces the show, CNN, and Grace have been sued over the death of a woman who was a guest on the program and later committed suicide. The plaintiffs charge it was Grace's overly aggressive questioning over the disappearance of her daughter that led Melinda Duckett to kill herself. The case hasn't gone to trial yet but several attempts to have it dismissed have been thrown out.

There is another possible high-profile wrongful death lawsuit that could be filed soon.

The family of pop singer Michael Jackson has been talking to their personal injury attorneys about bringing a case against Jackson's physician. Several relatives believe the doctor acted improperly in giving Jackson a high dose of sedatives.

One famous case that was lost by the plaintiffs was a wrongful death lawsuit filed after actor John Ritter died. His family sued doctors in California for $67 million dollars for negligence in diagnosing and treating a heart condition. A majority of the people on the jury determined that Ritter failed to follow his doctor's advice after being diagnosed with a torn aorta. While the doctors were cleared, the family did reach an out of court settlement with the hospital and was paid several million dollars for misdiagnosing his condition. To learn more about wrongful death lawsuits in Colorado, contact our firm today.