Jury says Dodgers must pay $13.9M in Giants fan's beating case
Although a jury found the Los Angeles Dodgers to be only partially responsible for a Giants fan’s 2011 beating in a stadium parking lot, that means the team must pay nearly $14 million.
Team attorney Dana Fox said a Los Angeles jury’s determination Wednesday that the team was 25 percent responsible for Bryan Stow’s devastating injuries from an attack by two men translates to about $13.9 million, as far as the team is concerned, reports the Los Angeles Times.
That’s because, under California law, the team must pay all of Stow’s medical bills and lost earnings, the newspaper explains. The two attackers, who were each found 37.5 percent liable, are responsible for the remaining balance of the nearly $18 million verdict.
The owner of the team at the time of the attack, Frank McCourt, was not found liable.
Thomas Girardi was lead counsel for the plaintiffs. He argued that the Dodgers should have ejected one of the two men for bad behavior before the beating of Stow, now 45, and also contended the team bore responsibility due to inadequate security and a lack of lighting. However, although Girardi said he had hoped for a higher award to cover Stow’s expected lifetime medical costs, he described the jury award as “”a good verdict for the family” that would help Stow’s parents care for their son.
Due to a debilitating brain injury, Stow may not be able to understand the jury verdict: While his parents were attending the trial, he repeatedly asked why they weren’t at home because he didn’t remember about the case, the newspaper reports.
The Dodgers have not yet decided whether to appeal. During trial, the team pointed to the two men who attacked Stow as those who were truly to blame and suggested that Stow’s own alcohol intake may have contributed.
