On January 10, 2008, Lee Welborn obtained a plaintiff’s verdict in Holcomb v. Norton in Cherokee State Court following a three-day jury trial. Plaintiff Vennie Worley Holcomb and her family had owned 10 acres off of Cove Road in Pickens County since 1944. Defendant Dirone Norton purchased 60 acres behind that parcel in July 2003, which contained no access to the road. The Defendant tried several times to convince Plaintiff to trade an acre for an acre and a half so that he could have an easement, but Plaintiff told him that she had picked cotton on that land as a child, and didn’t want to sell or trade now that she was in her 80’s. Incredibly, the Defendant hired a timber company and had them bulldoze a road right through the middle of the Plaintiff’s property. The road was 500 feet long, 18 feet wide, and required 10-12 tons of timber to be pushed down on the Plaintiff’s property. The value of the timber was between $475 (according to the defense experts) and $15,000 (according to the plaintiff’s expert).
In phase one of the trial, the jury awarded the Plaintiff $15,000 for willful trespass, $35,000 for attorneys fees and expenses, and $200,000 for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury felt that the Defendant should be required to pay punitive damages, and further indicated that he had acted with a specific intent to cause harm. In phase two of the trial, the jury learned that the Defendant had $30,000 in his bank account. As such, the jury returned a verdict for punitive damages in the amount of $30,000.
Since the plaintiff had been served with an unliquidated damages demand for $50,000 back in October, 2004, the plaintiff was also entitled to pre-judgment interest. The final judgment will be approximately $293,000 including court costs. In April, 2007, Joe Parker tried a 4 day case in Paulding County, which resulted in a defense verdict. Parker's client, driving a SUV, rear ended the Plaintiff, who was in a Crown Victoria. The Plaintiff was taken from the scene by ambulance to the ER where he complained of knee pain, neck pain, and low back pain. 9 days later an MRI of the knee showed a torn meniscus, and less than 2 months later the Plaintiff underwent knee surgery to repair the knee. Thereafter, the Plaintiff had PT for the knee. As his job required the use of an automobile and he allegedly was unable to drive due to the knee for 5 months, the Plaintiff claimed $31,000 in lost wages. The Plaintiff also received PT for his back, and he was subsequently diagnosed with a herniated disc by MRI, although surgery was not recommeded. His medical expenses totalled $28,000. Parker was able to show that the Plaintiff's knee complaints were not consistent and that his herniated disc was, in all likehood, of longstanding duration. The jury found for the defense, based on the Defendant's testimony, which was disputed by the Plaintiff, that the Plaintiff had begun to accelerate after the traffic light he was stopped at turned green, and then, for no apparent reason, stopped. Based on the jury's comments after the verdict, the jury did not accept the torn meniscus or the herniated disc as being related to the accident.
