Notable Cases from Romines Weis & Young in Louisville

In September 2012, Marie Garmon, an Anderson County hospice nurse, was struck in a head-on collision with a dump truck that crossed the centerline. According to the Kentucky State Police, the driver of the truck was driving too fast and was under the influence of intoxicants. For seventy agonizing minutes, Mrs. Garmon was trapped in her destroyed minivan before she was extricated and flown to University of Kentucky Medical Center. Five days after the collision, she succumbed to her injuries. The trucking company’s defense team attempted to place blame on Mrs. Garmon despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, forcing the case to trial. During trial, Romines, Weis, & Young proved negligence on behalf of the driver and his employer. Despite the attempts of the defense to place blame on Mrs. Garmon, the jury awarded her family over $32 million in damages. Included in this verdict was a $5 million loss of consortium award for Mrs. Garmon’s husband and each of her children, making the total of $15 million the largest loss of consortium verdict in the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

In January 2017, Connie Reesor, age 59, was severely injured in a collision with a Kentucky State Police trooper at an intersection in Elizabethtown. The officer, who was responding to a 911 call, drove through a red light at the intersection without an operational siren and was struck by Mrs. Reesor, who had a green light as she entered the intersection. The collision resulted in both vehicles being totaled and Mrs. Reesor suffering a shattered tibial plateau, for which she had to have a pin and nine plates installed in her knee. The officer’s defense claimed that he acted reasonably in responding to the emergency, while subsequently claiming that Mrs. Reesor should have yielded to him and had failed to keep a proper lookout while entering the intersection. Despite these claims, Romines, Weis, & Young were able to employ expert testimony to prove that the officer’s inappropriate conduct had violated policy and law, and that the emergency at hand did not justify disregarding police practices. The jury unanimously concluded that the officer was solely at fault for the accident and awarded her $1.4 million in damages, including $1 million in punitive damages.

In March 2013, Anna Branstetter, age 36, presented to the ER in Glasgow, KY with severe abdominal pain. A CT scan indicated a significant ovarian cyst was likely the source of Ms. Branstetter’s pain. The attending physician subsequently ordered 2 doses of morphine, which were administered roughly an hour apart. Despite being given a third dose of morphine, Ms. Branstetter remained in pain and was given a dose of Dilaudid ordered by another physician before falling asleep. Three hours later, she was found unresponsive in her hospital bed and could not be resuscitated. Ms. Branstetter essentially died of an overdose because she was over-medicated and under-monitored. The defense argued that the doctor met the standard of care in ordering Dilaudid and that it was not necessary to monitor Ms. Branstetter’s respiration, forcing the case to go to trial. At trial, Romines, Weis, & Young postured that an otherwise healthy person in their 30s should not die of a injury in the hospital and challenged jurors to send a message to a Kentucky doctors to be more careful and thorough before prescribing Dilaudid. The jury agreed and found fault with the hospital and the doctor who ordered the Dilaudid, returning with a $580,000 verdict.

Patrick Gabbard suffered a concussion when he was struck in his vehicle while turning into his driveway. This TBI exacerbated his ADHD to a severe degree. His underinsured carrier AAA offered $50,000.00 for his injuries and continuing medical bills. At trial, the jury awarded $1.063 Million.

Maria Arnold was questioning a police officer who was interrogating several 8-12 year old kids playing hide and seek in the neighborhood.

Defendant was charged with Murder after allegedly conspiring with two co-defendants to rob a drug dealer during a house party at Mallgate Apartments. Knife and gunplay ensued, and the dealer was shot and killed. After a week-long trial, the Defendant was found Not Guilty of Murder and Robbery.

Feature on 20/20, Dateline, Law and Order and feature length movie “Compliance”.

Defendant was a Doctor charged with the Murder of his wife on an anniversary boat ride.