14 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Midland (TX) Reporter-Telegram, 1/16:
 

Lawyers: 26 of 43 plaintiffs settle in parade float-train crash suit

 

The lawyers representing 26 of the 43 plaintiffs in the lawsuit stemming from the Show of Support parade crash said a settlement was been reached with Union Pacific.

 

SNIP

 

The lawsuit resulted from the wreck in which four veterans died and 14 other people were injured after a train hit a Show of Support parade float carrying wounded veterans and their spouses. The plaintiffs claimed that there was a defect in the signal system, causing a delayed activation of the lights and gates.

 

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[CNJRoss]

AP via Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal, 1/29:
 

Attorneys: Train hit veterans parade float 39 inches from end

 

MIDLAND (AP) — Attorneys told a West Texas jury that a freight train that slammed into a parade float carrying dozens of veterans and spouses came within 39 inches of missing the trailer.

 

A Midland County jury heard opening statements Wednesday in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 17 plaintiffs, including the families of three of the four veterans killed in the crash two years ago at a Midland railroad crossing.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Odessa (TX) American, 2/11:
 

Judge enters final order in train trial

Plaintiffs appealing dismissal

 

A judge filed a final judgment order, dismissing the case against Union Pacific by family members of those injured and killed in the Hunt for Heroes train wreck, officially opening up the possibility of an appeal.

 

Judge James Rush, who was assigned to the case after Judge Rodney Satterwhite recused himself, signed the final order Tuesday disposing the final claims in the case.

 

“As the court has determined, the first tractor-trailer driven by James Atchison, and the facts and circumstances associated with its crossing the Garfield Street crossing, as a matter of law did not create a specific, individual hazard and, for this reason, it did not create a duty on the part of the train crew to slow or stop the train,” Rush wrote in the judgment. “Plaintiffs have no evidence that Union Pacific’s train crew could have avoided the accident by taking action at the time when the crew first knew, or through the exercise of ordinary care should have known, based on their perception of the second tractor-trailer driven by Dale Hayden, that a collision was imminent.”

 

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[KevinKorell]

NBC Dallas/Fort Worth, 11/26/15:

 

Railroad Knew of Defect Before Veterans Killed: Widows

 

Intensive care nurse Angie Boivin had just tended to a woman whose leg was severed near the hip when she saw her husband Larry lying nearby under an American flag blanket. She says that she was with him when he took his last breath.

 

Larry Boivin earned a Purple Heart in Iraq in 2004, but he didn't survive a Union Pacific freight train that slammed into the flat-bed trailer he and other veterans were riding on during a 2012 parade in Midland, Texas. Three other veterans died and more than a dozen people were injured in the crash three years ago this month.

Update

[CNJRoss]

Midland (TX) Reporter-Telegram, 9/1/17:
 

Appeals court sides with UP in Show of Support case

11th Appeals Court: Trial court correct in its ruling in parade suit

 

 

 

The 11th Court of Appeals in Eastland ruled that a trial court was correct in its judgment for Union Pacific in a case brought forward by those impacted in the Support of Support crash with a train in November 2012.

 

Appellants had sued Union Pacific for wrongful death and personal injuries, alleging violations of various federal regulations pertaining to railroad crossings. The trial court resolved many of the claims asserted by the appellants by granting partial summary judgment in favor of Union Pacific prior to trial, according to the opinion filed Friday.

 

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