His affluent parents bear the other 70 percent of the fault, a Cincinnati jury decided, as they awarded $10 million to victim Casey Hilmer and her family. Ben White was just 11 days short of his 18th birthday when he savagely stabbed the girl in an unprovoked assault; he was later sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder. You’d think for White’s parents to be more than twice as much at fault in the outrage as he was — 70 percent compared with 30 percent — they must be quite the monstrous couple. Curiously, though, the jury foreman said of Lance and Diane White afterward that they had “no intent” to harm and that he didn’t think they showed “ill will” or “conscious disregard for somebody”: “I’m not saying they’re bad parents”. The plaintiff’s lawyer was Stanley Chesley, who will be familiar to many of our readers. (Sharon Coolidge, “Parents must pay $7M”, Cincinnati Enquirer, Aug. 20; Tony Cook and Jeanne Houck, “Stabbed girl wins $10M judgment”, Cincinnati Post, Aug. 20).
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