Personal Injury Law

Skydiving Center Found Not Liable for Jumper?s Injuries

By Michael

A jury ruled last week that a central California-area skydiving center was not responsible for spinal cord injuries as a result of an accident during a jump about three years ago.

In a 10-2 decision, jurors at the San Joaquin Valley Courthouse ruled that the Parachute Center owner and pilot Bill Dause did not act in a manner considered reckless beyond normal skydiving actions when 33-year-old Christian Barton was injured during a jump, the Record newspaper reported.

During summer of 2006, Barton jumped out of Dause?s twin engine plane at about 3,000 feet above sea level. Right after leaving the plane, Barton struck the plane?s tail before continuing to fall. Barton?s emergency chute opened and he landed hard in a nearby vineyard, the Record reported.

The fall left Barton with severe injuries to his spinal cord leaving him unable to walk at first. He later regained partial ability to walk. Pictures taken of Barton show him using a cane to walk into the San Joaquin Valley Courthouse

The verdict against the $8 million injury lawsuit Barton filed against Dause and the Parachute Center came after two weeks of trial dates. During the trial, Dause?s attorney Kurt Siebert alleged that Barton jumped inappropriately out of the airplane, which caused him to roll in the direction of the tail.

Dause?s response to the personal injury lawsuit filing in 2008 said that Barton ?literally jumped out? of the plane instead of using ?the proper roll out technique.?

During the trial, Barton?s attorney Michael Goldstein claimed Dause did not sufficiently warn Barton about the potential risk that of striking the plane?s tail while falling. Goldstein also argued that Dause did not keep the plane level enough in accordance with skydiving industry standards, according to the Record.

Near the time of the accident, Dause was quoted by the Lodi News-Sentinel saying that Barton was an experienced jumper who had jumped over 200 times before the accident.

Kyle Moutray served as jury foreman during the trial, and described the deliberations between jurors as ?very relaxed? and included ?a lot of really good discussion.?

While the jury eventually ruled in favor of Dause, it was not a quick decision, Moutray told the Record after the trial concluded.

The first vote was 8-4 in favor of Dause, while the next one went 6-6. The jury then came to a 7-5 vote still in Dause?s favor before finally settling on 10-2 in favor of the pilot.

?Both parties have some responsibility in the entire incident,? Moutray said. ?I wish we could?ve done something for Christian.?

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on February 06, 2010 (boomark / email).