$550 Million Wrongful-Death Verdict After Driver Hit 107 mph on Drugs and Alcohol

In 2019, Marcial Escobia was on his way to church in the Las Vegas area when Kevin Raspperry ran an intersection at 107 miles per hour -- more than double the posted 45 mph limit. Raspperry had been up through the night and was carrying four substances in his system: alcohol, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and marijuana. The crash killed Marcial and left his wife Nimfa with serious injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The civil case, filed as Case No. A-21-842834-C in Clark County District Court before Judge Mark Denton, reached trial in October 2024. Attorneys Kimball Jones, Jacqueline Bretell, and Josh Berrett of Bighorn Law represented Nimfa Escobia. The defense was handled by Jason Fowler and George Ranalli of Ranalli Zaniel Fowler and Moran LLC.

Jones presented evidence of Raspperry's speed, his multi-substance impairment, and the deliberate nature of his choices the night before the crash. The defense had limited ground to contest liability given the toxicology and physical evidence. The central dispute at trial was the scale of damages -- particularly whether the jury would impose punitive damages and at what level.

On October 11, 2024, the jury returned a verdict of $550 million: $50 million in compensatory damages to Nimfa Escobia and $500 million in punitive damages. CVN, which covered the trial, reported the result in a staffed article the same week. Vegas Legal Magazine later described it as the largest verdict for a single plaintiff in Nevada history.

The punitive award faces a legal constraint on appeal. Nevada law caps punitive damages at three times compensatory damages when compensatory damages exceed $100,000. Applied to the $50 million compensatory figure, that cap would reduce the punitive portion to $150 million, bringing the total to roughly $200 million. Jones acknowledged the cap publicly after the verdict. A separate settlement between the vehicle owner's insurer, USAA, and the plaintiff was reached before trial; Raspperry himself did not settle.