Was Amtrak Negligent For Failing To Act On Reports Of Gunfire On A Train? Duh.
Three federal appellate judges overturned $35.2 million award to the family of a man who died after being randomly shot on a train. Amtrak personnel dismissed reports of gunfire as fireworks.
Occasionally, you read a court decision that reveals how remarkably out of touch members of the federal judiciary are with the reality of life today in America.
A panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis recently overturned a jury verdict and lower court decision awarding $35.2 million to the wife and three minor children of a man who was randomly shot on an Amtrak train in Normal, Illinois, in 2022.
Amtrak officials interpreted the noise as fireworks, and the train continued on to the next station.
There should be a compelling reason for judges to substitute their judgment for that of a jury. Judges must find a “reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party on that issue.” This should be a high hurdle.
Few people reading the court decision penned by 8th Circuit Judge Leonard Steven Grasz would find the jury in this case to be unreasonable.
First, Grasz wrote that Amtrak was not at fault for failing to screen for weapons because it was not “foreseeable” that a man with a concealed weapon would randomly shoot a man he didn’t know for no reason. (Seriously? Do judges ride public transportation? Do they read newspapers?)
Then, he wrote that Amtrak was not the “but for cause” of the man’s death, even though the judges concede there was a “remote” chance that he might have been saved if he had received immediate medical care. (How much is a remote chance worth?)
Grasz, who was nominated by GOP President Donald J. Trump, was joined by the other two judges, Jonathan A. Kobes, also a Trump nominee, and Duane Benton, a 75-year-old semi-retired judge who was appointed by former GOP Pres. Ronald Reagan.
The Facts
The train made a scheduled stop at Lee’s Summit in January 2022 at 9:02 p.m. when Marquise L. Webb, 21, “suddenly shot” Richie Aaron, Jr., 30, in the back five times. Webb did not know Aaron, and “there was no apparent motive for the random
Webb exited the train, which continued to its next stop, Independence, Missouri.
