“Margaret Petraski was legally drunk when a Cook County sheriff’s squad car raced through an intersection and slammed into her vehicle, authorities said. …Late Tuesday, a Cook County jury decided Petraski should receive $26.8 million for the injuries she endured in the 2001 crash — believed to be the biggest verdict of its kind.
“But the jurors who delivered Tuesday night’s verdict never heard about the 0.11 blood-alcohol level hospital officials say Petraski registered after the Memorial Day accident. A driver is considered drunk if the blood-alcohol level is 0.08 or greater.” Judge Richard Elrod* ruled that Petraski’s blood-alcohol sample wasn’t reliable enough to be admitted, because it was taken from a dried sample, and Petraski’s lawyers further argued that no expert had given testimony linking her alcohol intake to the accident, which occurred when a police officer sped through a red light in response to a non-emergency call. However, even without being told about Petraski’s alcohol level, jurors declared her 25 percent to blame for the crash, because she “misjudged the turn and should have anticipated the officer was going fast”. (Steve Patterson, “$26.8 million for victim in cop collision”, Chicago Sun-Times, May 25).
* Bonus trivia point for law buffs: Judge Elrod is the same Elrod who figures in the heading of Elrod v. Burns, a famous U.S. Supreme Court case on the Constitutional status of political patronage.
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