Bus Crash Verdict Not the Last Word

The Livingston County jury verdict that awarded three people a total of $2.25 million for emotional injuries they received from the 2005 bus crash that was carrying a Canadian women's hockey team will be appealed on several different grounds.

First, the presiding judge ordered that Canadian law should apply to the case, even though the accident took place in New York and a key defendant in the case was not a Canadian citizen.  Next, because the judge made that ruling, the defense has argued that the judge should have instructed the jury the most a signle plaintiff was entitled to under Canadian law for damages is $325,000.

Forgetting that issue for the moment, the defense will also argue on appeal that the awards for the three people of $1,000,000,  $750,000 and $250,000 were excessive even under New York law. 

Stay tuned.  The trials for those passengers who received actual physical injuries is still to come, as are the cases of those people making "wrongful death" claims on behalf of loved ones who died in the crash.  This case is far, far from over.