Auto - Pedestrian Accident; School Zone; Brain Injury Style of Case: Cecil W. Dial, Jr. vs. Brad Joiner and Edwardsville Community School District Client: Brad Joiner Trial End Date: 5/21/2010 Court: Circuit Court, Madison County, Illinois Type of Case: Auto - Pedestrian Accident; School Zone; Brain Injury Judge: The Honorable Clarence Harrison Reed Armstrong Lawyer who tried the case: Stephen C. Mudge Jury Verdict After a five day trial, a Madison County Jury returned a not guilty verdict for the defendant. The plaintiff, who was a pedestrian, and in a school zone, had alleged that the defendant failed to keep a proper lookout, was distracted by an object sliding on his dashboard, and was operating his vehicle too fast in a school zone and, as a result, negligently struck the plaintiff who sustained a severe brain injury. The defendant asserted he was not distracted, that the plaintiff had walked out from behind a parked motor vehicle, and was carrying a class project that blocked the plaintiff’s view of the defendant. The defendant asserted the plaintiff walked into the side of defendant’s vehicle rather than the defendant driving into the plaintiff. Reconstruction witnesses were called on behalf of the plaintiff and the defendant. After deliberating a little more than 2 hours, he jury found in favor of the defendant and awarded no damages. This was a retrial of the case which was originally tried in 2004, which also resulted in a defendant’s verdict after which the trial court granted a new trial, and was affirmed by the appellate court. Additional Information Last Demand: Last offer $20,000. Last demand 3.5 million. Defendant carried $250,000 in liability insurance. Verdict: Defendant's verdict     © 2002 Reed, Armstrong, Gorman, Mudge & Morrissey