United States of America Department of Veterans Affairs, United States District Court for the District of Arizona, CV15-02140 Steven Cooper, 40, a U.S. Army Veteran, claimed that he had delays and cancellations in appointments at the VA in Phoenix and that when he was finally seen in 2011 he was not properly examined.
This personal injury and Section 1983 civil rights violation case arose out of a com-mercial landlord–tenant dispute involving Scottsdale police officers Aaron Good and Edward Chrisman. The landlord, Kevin Fu-ciarelli, locked a commercial property with a non-party’s personal belongings inside, in-cluding house, mailbox and car keys. When the non-party attempted to recover the be-longings, a dispute arose, and the officers were called to the scene. Fuciarelli alleged the officers improperly inserted themselves into a civil landlord–tenant dispute, that the officers were poorly trained and con-ducted landlord–tenant research during the call instead of performing an investigation, and that Good used excessive force to de-tain him. Defendants asserted that they suspected a theft of property was occurring and that Chrisman properly and reasonably researched whether Fuciarelli had the right to detain the property, and that reasonable force was necessary to detain Fuciarelli when he approached Good in a threatening manner. At trial, Fuciarelli sought $196,000 in past and future medical expenses, $25 million in lost past and future earnings, and compensatory and punitive damages.
Cooper contended that the nurse practitioner who saw him failed to order testing, failed to inform him of abnormal results or discuss options, and failed to timely diagnose prostate cancer. He alleged that if his cancer had been diagnosed in 2011 it was treatable with a simple surgi-cal procedure. However, his cancer was not diagnosed for another year, by which time it had metastasized and was terminal. The United States defended that it was impos-sible to tell whether his cancer would have confined to his prostate if diagnosed in 2011, and that the nurse practitioner did not find any indications of cancer in 2011. In a bench trial, the court awarded $2,556,000.
Lynial Ashford, a gunsmith, was working on a modified Remington 700 rifle. Accu-wright is the patent holder of a titanium cold-spray process. Gunwright used Accu-wright’s titanium cold spray and equipment to create a custom barrel. When Ashford test-fired the rifle, it exploded in his hands. Ashford alleged in this product liability case that the modified barrel did not have the strength to withstand the internal forc-es. Ashford’s left hand and wrist sustained severe traumatic damage and required am-putation and a prosthetic hand. Gunwright and Accuwright argued Ashford was negli-gent in his testing and gunsmithing. Accu-wright defended that the smokeless powder used created internal pressure that was too high for the modified barrel to contain, and that the powder would have caused an un-modified steel barrel to fail as well. The jury awarded $1,500,000. The jury found the non-party seller 55 percent at fault, the non-party owner of the barrel 20 percent at fault, Ashford 20 percent at fault, Gun-wright five percent at fault, and Accuwright zero percent at fault.
This case arose out of the sale of Camptown Mobile Home Park. Plaintiff Gerrie Cool-ey bought Camptown from the James E. Davison Revocable Trust Dated March 26, 2003 for $3.5 million. The sale included the business and all of its assets including trailers, buildings, equipment, lease agree-ments and carryback loans. Cooley hired Eileen Davison to continue to manage the property. Cooley alleged that Davison and the Trust made material misrepresentations about the business’ physical condition and nature of its assets. Cooley asserted that they failed to provide financial information, and embezzled and/or converted rents and other money and property. Davison and the Trust defended that they properly disclosed issues regarding the property, and that Cool-ey did not do adequate due diligence or an inspection of the property. The jury found for Cooley on claims of fraud, conversion, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and misrepresentation. The jury found the Trust 70 percent at fault, Cooley 30 percent at fault, and Eileen Da-vison zero percent at fault.
Tashiana Adams brought this wrongful death medical malpractice claim alleging multiple health care providers fell below the standard of care during an outpatient lap band sur-gery, causing the death of her mother, April Adams, due to excessive bleeding and hypo-volemic shock. Adams alleged the surgeon, Dr. Terry Simpson, failed to perform ade-quate pre-operative work, failed to provide adequate post-operative care, failed to treat post-operative bleeding and shock, failed to select the appropriate surgery facility, and failed to transfer the patient to a full-service hospital. She also alleged that Dr. Ali Askari, a cardiologist, failed to perform a nuclear stress test study and overlooked a pre-sur-gery echocardiogram anomaly, both of which would have precluded the procedure. She alleged the primary care doctor, Dr. Dat Tran, failed to review a non-party car-diologist’s surgery precluding nuclear stress study demonstrating abnormal blood flow. Defendants alleged that April Adams was not forthcoming with her medical history, including the abnormal nuclear stress test performed by the non-party cardiologist, and failed to inform them of two previous bariatric surgeries that would have made the surgery too risky to perform. Simpson also argued the surgery facility was sufficient for outpatient surgeries. Adams asked the jury for a $10 million award.
arguing that Van Dyke properly searched the area for hazards and did not see her get up and run to the bus after he closed the doors because he shifted his attention to merging with traffic. Brown sought $9.8 million at trial for past and future medical damages, lost wages, and compensatory damages.