Posted on 10/22/2004 5:48:35 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952
Williamson County jury awards nothing to either side in lawsuit over $695
By Jennifer Barrios
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, October 22, 2004
The state spent $11,600 trying to recover $695 in damages in a small-claims suit involving a dented truck -- and ended up without a penny.
On Wednesday, a Williamson County jury deliberated for 1 1/2 hours and decided that Donna Wheeler owed the state absolutely nothing for a fender bender she had with a state truck last year. A counterclaim that Wheeler's attorney filed against the state also failed.
The two sides had spent a total of about $19,000 on the case.
"It's basically one of those things where everybody incurs their own fees and goes home," said Frank King, who represented Wheeler and her insurance company. "A pox on both your houses."
State Attorney General Greg Abbott's office sued Wheeler after the resident of Rosebud, in Falls County, was in a collision with a Texas Department of Transportation employee last year. The state-owned truck had some dents, and Wheeler got slapped with what her lawyer called a frivolous lawsuit by the state.
Wheeler's insurance company offered to pay the state half of the approximately $695 in damage to the truck, but the state refused the offer.
Ed Burbach, deputy attorney general for litigation, said the Department of Transportation wasn't interested in accepting the insurance company's "low-ball offer."
"If (the state) didn't push for these claims, it would make them a bigger target," he said. "We have to look out for the interest of the taxpayers."
Abbott's office had sought damages plus $5,000 in attorney's fees, the most that can be recovered in small-claims court.
"Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose," said Burbach, who dismissed the notion that the lawsuit was frivolous.
TX tax waste ping...
Of course, the insurance company and the woman are pretty stupid for incurring a lawsuit over $347.50.
I propose a new Department of Common Sense........ I'll head it up, but I will need immunity from prosecution
I want my money back
:^)
Bump!
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