$4.5 Million Verdict for Marine Lt. Col. Left With Brain Injury and Fractured Spine After Stop-Sign Crash

On February 17, 2014, Lt. Col. Aaron Eckerberg was driving a pickup truck and attached trailer northbound on U.S. Highway 65 in Pettis County, Missouri. A commercial van operated by a driver for Inter-State Studio and Publishing Co. entered the highway without stopping, running a stop sign at the intersection and crashing into Eckerberg's trailer. The force of the impact caused the truck and trailer to spin and flip upside down into a water-filled ditch.

Eckerberg lost consciousness and was trapped in the submerged cab for approximately ten minutes before rescue crews reached him. When he was extracted, he had sustained injuries that would prove career-ending: a fractured thoracic vertebra and a mild traumatic brain injury. At the time of the crash, Eckerberg was a 40-year-old active-duty Marine Corps lieutenant colonel with years of service as a combat helicopter pilot.

Robert Langdon and Mark Emison of Langdon and Emison served as lead trial counsel. Over a five-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the team presented evidence that the brain injury and spinal fracture, taken together, effectively ended Eckerberg's ability to fly and to continue his military career. The defense contested the severity and permanence of the injuries.

The jury returned a verdict of $4.5 million in damages. Inter-State Studio and Publishing Co. appealed, challenging both liability and the damages award.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the verdict in full in June 2017, issuing its opinion at 860 F.3d 1079. The appellate court found no basis to disturb the jury's findings on either liability or the amount of the award. The decision was also cited in subsequent federal cases for its analysis of diversity jurisdiction and domicile.