The Law Offices of
David L. Ross P.A.
October 2005
Jenkins vs. Housing Trust Management Group, Inc.
Palm Beach County Circuit Court Case No.: 502004 CA 007662 MB (September 2005 Trial Calendar)
Defendant's Attorney: DAVID L. ROSS
Facts: This Wrongful Death/Negligent Security claim arose out of the tragic shooting of decedent, John Derrick Jenkins, a schoolteacher, who was shot and killed while outside his apartment #301 at the Venetian Isles Complex. Prior to the shooting, the assailants, who remained unknown and at-large (thus preventing the inclusion of same through a third-party Fabre defense) broke into apartment #201, apparently with the intent to burglarize. Following the break in, the assailants went down the stairs and came across the decedent, who may have surprised his assailants, which ultimately resulted in the shooting of the decedent. Preliminary conversations with the "courtesy officer" who resides on the premises noted he found out about the incident, then attempted to follow the unknown assailants on foot, before returning about ten minutes later, unable to find said assailants. The subject premises failed to have any armed security guards on the premises, despite crime grids pertaining to the subject premises, noting over 450 police calls/responses to the subject premises in the 11 MONTHS preceding the subject incident, mostly involving robberies, assaults, batteries, and gunshot firings, giving rise to additional forseeability and liability issues. Claim also received extensive publicity in the Palm Beach County area
Damages: The Decedent, a former elementary school teacher and army reservist, was survived by his wife and four children (two from a prior relationship), whose ages ranged from 6 to 11 years old. Plaintiff also had eyewitness testimony to the shooting, and brought forth evidence of several tenants wishing to break their leases following the incident. With respect to liability, Defendant argued witness testimony was shaky at best, as only eyewitnesses could testify as to their version of the events as viewed through a "peep-hole" in the door to their apartment near the decedent's. With respect to Damages, Defendant argued decedent did not specifically provide for his two children with other mothers, despite prior court orders, their resulting claimed damages under the Wrongful Death Survival Statue should be limited as such.
Demand: Plaintiff's initial demand was for policy limits of $1,000,000.00. Upon learning of an existing excess policy with Chubb Insurance Group of $10,000,000.00 in excess coverage, Plaintiff increased her demand prior to mediation to 7.5 million dollars. Comparable Jury Verdict research noted the claim to be worth in excess of $3.5 million dollars should the matter to proceed to trial.
Disposition: Confidential Settlement at Mediation in July of 2005. While settlement remains confidential, both underlying carrier Investors Underwriting Managers, Inc. and Chubb Insurance Group, Inc., were "exceptionally pleased" by the settlement, noting they expected exposure to be "significantly greater," than what case ultimately resolved for. (and significantly under what comparable Jury Verdict research noted claim to be worth at trial). Both parties commended Defense counsel for "keeping things much lower than we ever imagined considering the uphill battle presented by the facts of the claim."
Wrongful Death Results
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