Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

On Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010, William Scott entered the home of his ex-wife, Annette Scott, and shot both Annette and her boyfriend, Rollin Dunham, before returning to his home and shooting himself in the head. Both Annette and William died from their injuries, but Rollin survived a gunshot to the abdomen and another to the lower leg.

At the time of the shooting, Annette had an Order of Protection on file with the Stephenson County, Illinois Sheriff's Department. Annette had previously filed multiple Orders of Protection against William based on claims of domestic abuse, threats and stalking behaviors. Additionally, Annette called the Sheriff's Department and filed numerous complaints relating to violations of these Orders of Protection. In fact, in the two weeks preceding the tragic events of April 4, 2010, Annette Scott had reported at least four violations of her recently-filed Order of Protection.

Orders of Protection were created as a provision in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986. The stated purpose of the Act is to "recognize domestic violence as a serious crime against the individual and society which . . . promotes a pattern of escalating violence which frequently culminates in intra-family homicide. . . ." 750 ILCS 60/102(1). Under Illinois law, a violation of an Order of Protection is considered a misdemeanor; however a repeat violation of an Order of Protection is considered a felony. 720 ILCS 5/12-30.

On November 9, 2010, Rollin Dunham and the Estate of Annette Scott filed a lawsuit against the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office. The Complaint contains allegations that the Sheriff's Office failed to protect Annette and Rollin by failing to investigate the reported violations of the Orders of Protection, by failing to divest William of his firearms despite knowledge that he possessed several, and failing to arrest William despite his commission of multiple felonies.

"Despite William's well-known reputation for violence and his repeated violations of the law, the Sheriff and his deputies failed to arrest him. If they had taken the proper action and arrested William, this tragedy would not have happened," said Devon C. Bruce of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C., who is representing the Plaintiffs.

The case is currently pending before the Honorable Judge Jeffrey of the Stephenson County Circuit Court. The parties are currently in the discovery phase of litigation attempting to determine the extent of the Sheriff Department's knowledge regarding William Scott as well as their policies and procedures for handling violations of Orders of Protection.

References:
"Orangeville shooting lawsuit moves forward; Sheriff's office sued in wake of tragedy," The Journal-Standard, by Travis Morse, April 19, 2012

Continue reading "Stephenson County, Illinois Shooting Lawsuit Update" »

On February 19, 2011, Ben Waring of Mathias Township, Michigan, was killed when two tires separated from a bus and struck his vehicle. The tragedy occurred in Racine, WI on Highway 20. At the time of the incident, Ben was driving in the westbound lane with his fiancé Jessica Shega-Fox following in her vehicle behind him. The bus was traveling opposite Ben and Jessica in the eastbound lane of traffic. As the vehicles were passing each other, the driver's side rear-tires separated from the bus. The first tire struck Ben's vehicle while the second tire bounced in front of Jessica's vehicle, narrowly missing her. The bus then crossed the center line of Highway 20 causing Jessica to maneuver her car to the shoulder to avoid hitting it.

The state police investigated the crash and determined that the lug-nuts were stripped and loose, which caused the tires to separate from the bus. The state police found the bus company to be at fault. According to applicable federal regulations, the bus company was required to perform an inspection before departing from Chicago on February 19, 2011.

The Plaintiffs are represented by Todd A. Smith and Sean M. Houlihan of Power Rogers & Smith, P.C. of Chicago, Illinois. The suit asserts claims for wrongful death and survival on behalf of the Estate of Ben Waring. Specifically, the suit alleges that Rickey Raccoon Transportation, Inc. ("RRTI"), the company that owned the bus, and Darius Jones, the driver of the bus, negligently failed to maintain, service, and inspect the bus's tires and wheel assembly at RRTI's facilities in Chicago before departing for Wisconsin.

Additionally, a separate cause of action has been filed on behalf of Jessica Shega-Fox for negligent infliction of emotional distress for the emotional toll and post-traumatic stress she has suffered as a result of seeing her fiancé killed and being exposed to extreme danger at the time the tragedy occurred. Mr. Houlihan commented, "This tragedy was entirely preventable. If the driver and the bus company properly performed a simple, pre-trip inspection as required by Federal law, they would have fixed the loose lug-nuts and Ben would be with us today."

Recently, Defendants filed a motion requesting that Wisconsin law be applied to the case instead of Illinois law. Defendants filed their motion in an attempt to take advantage of the damage caps imposed by Wisconsin law in order to dramatically reduce Plaintiff's recovery, as Illinois does not impose such caps. Defendants premised their motion on the fact the Decedent was a temporary resident of Wisconsin and the tragedy occurred in Wisconsin, despite the fact that the Defendants are both domiciled in Illinois and the negligent failure to maintain, service and inspect all occurred in Illinois. The court properly denied Defendants' motion and held that the lawsuit will be governed by Illinois law.

Continue reading "Illinois Law to Apply in Wrongful Death that Occurred in Wisconsin" »