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Dad says university failed to treat NFL veteran who shot 6
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The father of a former NFL player who fatally shot six people before killing himself two years ago is suing the alma mater where his son played football. An autopsy eventually diagnosed Phillip Adams with an unusually severe form of the degenerative brain disease commonly known as CTE that has been […]
$2.75M verdict vacated, court must decide if suicide was foreseeable
A jury verdict holding the Ford Motor Co. responsible for the death of a man who died by suicide after suffering severe injuries in a car crash will have to be vacated because the jury received improper instructions about how to determine whether the death was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the car’s defective […]
Suicide attempt may be evidence of guilt
Evidence of a defendant’s attempted suicide is admissible as evidence of guilt, the state Supreme Court has ruled, but only under certain, very limited, circumstances. In 2011, the South Carolina Court of Appeals held in State v. Orozco that evidence of a suicide attempt is probative of a defendant’s consciousness of guilt, as long […]
Constitutional – Shooting suicidal man was excessive force
An officer violated the Fourth Amendment in shooting a suicidal man who had a knife but was threatening only himself. The officer was entitled to qualified immunity, but the unconstitutionality of his actions is clearly established as of the date of this opinion. Background Appellant Damon Wilson went to the home of his former girlfriend, […]
Tort/Negligence – Products Liability – Airbag Deployment – Comparative Negligence – Strict Liability & Breach of Warranty – Suicide
Wickersham v. Ford Motor Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-130-17, 36 pp.) (David Norton, J.) 9:13-cv-01192; D.S.C. Holding: Despite the fact that Donze v. General Motors, LLC, 800 S.E.2d 479 (S.C. 2017), is distinguishable from this case, the court applies the reasoning of Donze to hold that comparative fault is not a defense to strict liability […]
Estate of man who committed suicide awarded $4.65M
The estate of a man who committed suicide after being severely injured in a car accident was awarded $4.65 million last year, an attorney for the plaintiff has reported. According to Austin Crosby of Peters Murdaugh Parker Eltzroth Detrick in Hampton, a jury on Sept. 1 awarded Crystal Wickersham, personal representative of her husband’s estate, […]
Tort/Negligence — Wrongful Death – Suicide – Uncontrollable Impulse — Traffic Accident – Product Liability – Delayed Airbag Deployment – Punitive Damages
Wickersham v. Ford Motor Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-130-16, 33 pp.) (David Norton, J.) 9:13-cv-01192; D.S.C. Holding: As a general rule, suicide constitutes an independent act of the decedent that extinguishes the line of causation connecting a defendant’s actions to the decedent’s death; however, this court finds that South Carolina recognizes the uncontrollable impulse exception […]
Lawyer accused in fraud case appears to have killed himself
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) — Rock Hill attorney Horace Jones Jr. has appeared in many South Carolina courthouses over the past two decades, representing clients primarily on money matters. On Monday morning, Jones, 45, was scheduled to be in a Jasper County courtroom – not as an attorney, but as a defendant facing a felony […]
Tort/Negligence — Wrongful Death – Suicide – Proximate Cause – DUI Arrest
Watson v. Adams (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-069-15, 20 pp.) (Bruce Howe Hendricks, J.) 4:12-cv-03436; D.S.C. Holding: Even if defendants lacked reasonable suspicion to pull plaintiff’s decedent over, and even if defendants’ arrest of the decedent was the straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to the loss of his marriage and his job, defendants’ actions […]
Coroner: Ex-SC deputy killed wife, then himself
COWPENS (AP) — Authorities say a retired Spartanburg deputy shot his wife to death, then turned the gun on himself. The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office told local media outlets Thursday of his ruling in the deaths of 68-year-old Rex Miguel Scott and 44-year-old Lisa Kay James. The couple was found inside their Cowpens home on […]
Insurance – Life – Suicide Exclusion – Mental Illness – Third-Party Negligence
Robinson v. American General Life Insurance Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-142-14, 5 pp.) (Joseph Anderson Jr., J.) 3:14-cv-01325; D.S.C. Holding: Since plaintiffs’ decedent agreed that insanity could not be used to avoid the suicide exclusion in his life insurance policy, the decedent’s mental illness does not take his self-inflicted gunshot wound outside the definition of […]
No charges against cop in Charleston teen’s death
A prosecutor has decided not to file charges against a police officer in the death of a 19-year-old man at a Charleston apartment, saying the evidence is clear the teen shot himself.
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- Virginia Tech student got due process in hearing
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
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