$23 Million Verdict for Truck Driver Who Lost a Leg and Suffered Brain Injury After I-295 Collision

Shortly after 6 a.m. on November 11, 2007, Ricky L. Jones was driving a tractor-trailer for his employer, Supervalu Inc., northbound on Interstate 295 near the U.S. 301 interchange outside Richmond. Ahead of him, a tractor-trailer owned by Moen Inc. had stopped in the emergency lane. After sitting there for nine minutes, the Moen truck pulled out into the right travel lane doing approximately 25 miles per hour. Jones had no time to stop. His rig hit the Moen truck at around 55 miles per hour.

Jones had to be cut from his cab and airlifted to the hospital. He spent weeks in a coma. His injuries included a traumatic brain injury, a crushed pelvis, a severely damaged left foot, and a right leg that required amputation in three separate surgical stages. By the time the case reached trial, he had undergone 26 procedures requiring general anesthesia. Experts testified he cannot use a prosthetic limb and lives with severe depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety attacks.

Proving how the collision unfolded was the central challenge, because Jones had no memory of the crash. Attorneys P. Christopher Guedri and Douglas A. Barry of Allen, Allen, Allen and Allen built the liability case around GPS records and the electronic control module pulled from the Moen truck. That black-box data showed exactly how long the truck had been stationary, how slowly it was moving when it re-entered the lane, and what speed Jones was traveling at impact. The data made the sequence of events difficult to dispute.

The economic damages claim included $1.1 million in medical expenses, $1.75 million in lost wages based on Jones's roughly $70,000 annual salary, and a life care plan valued at $7 million. The full verdict from the Richmond Circuit Court jury, returned on February 28, 2011, came to $23 million. Circuit Judge Melvin Hughes later denied defense motions to set aside or reduce the award, leaving the verdict intact. Defense counsel indicated the case was likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia; no published appellate decision reducing the award has been located.