Tort law allows personal representatives or next of kin to sue parties for contributing to a death. Notable cases include OJ Simpson, Melinda Duckett, Brynn Hartman, and the Ford Pinto case. In each case, the defendant was found responsible for the wrongful death and ordered to pay damages.
Tort is a civil act by which the personal representative or next of kin of the deceased can bring an action against a party who may have contributed to the death of the deceased. There are several famous manslaughter cases, the most famous being the 1997 civil trial of OJ Simpson in the 1997 death of Ronald Goldman, which took place after he was acquitted of his murder. However, there are other notable manslaughter cases, including the Melinda Ducket case, the Brynn Hartman case, and the Ford Pinto case.
In the OJ Simpson manslaughter case, initiated by Ronald Goldman’s family, Simpson was found responsible for the wrongful and wrongful death of Ronald Goldman. Although Simpson had already been acquitted of Goldman’s murder – because the burden of proof is simply a “preponderance of evidence” in a civil trial over the standard of “reasonable doubt” in criminal trials – it was easier to establish responsibility than Simpson than it was to prove guilty in the criminal trial. Additionally, Simpson’s attorneys did a poor job of refuting DNA evidence of him at the crime scene and a parade of witnesses implicating him in Goldman’s death. Ultimately, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in Goldman’s favor, ordering Simpson to pay Goldman’s family over $20 million.
After appearing on former prosecutor Nancy Grace’s TV show and facing aggressive interrogations that implied she killed her son, Melinda Duckett committed suicide. Duckett’s parents then filed a lawsuit against Grace. The lawsuit alleged that Grace’s implication that Duckett was responsible for the death of her child caused emotional distress leading to her suicide. The case was settled in 2010 with the creation of a $200,000 (USD) trust dedicated to the child, which has never been found.
In 1998, Brynn Hartman made headlines when she shot her husband, comedian Phil Hartman, and then took her own life. Brynn’s brother then sued Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, makers of the antidepressant Zoloft®:, which Brynn was on a regular basis at the time. The case alleged that the drug drove Hartman insane, which led to her committing the murder/suicide. Like many other wrongful death cases, this one was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
When the Ford Motor Company produced millions of Pinto automobiles that had a gas tank defect that resulted in an increased risk of explosion, there were several wrongful death cases brought against them. The pivotal piece of evidence was a memo implicating Ford executives for placing a value of $200,000 (USD) on a human life. Ultimately, they were forced to pay millions of dollars in damages to the families of the deceased.
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