Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

As the summer season quickly approaches, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) would like to remind parents and caregivers about the dangers of leaving children alone in cars. Every summer, there are an increased number of serious injuries sustained by children who are abandoned in hot vehicles.

Last week, we reported the death of a 13 month-old in Lee's Summit, who died after being left in his mother's car all day. The mother reportedly believed she had already dropped the boy off at day care. On the same day, a 7 month-old died in Texas after being left in his father's pickup truck for several hours. In that instance, the father, who didn't normally transport the child to day care, "became distracted after dropping off the older kids," according to MSNBC. In general, more than half of children who die after being left in hot vehicles are simply forgotten by caregivers who were rushed or stressed.

NHTSA research illustrates the heightened risk of serious injury or death for children, accidentally or purposely, left in vehicles in the heat. Hyperthermia, or heat-stroke, is a leading cause of death for children under the age of 14.

Our Missouri personal injury attorneys would like parents to be extra cautious when exiting their vehicle during the summer months. Tragedies may also occur under the watch of babysitters, daycare centers, schools and summer camps. We urge you to talk with day care employees, school employees and caregivers to stress the important of checking for children when they leave their motor vehicles. You should ask that you be notified immediately if any of the parties notice that your child did not arrive on-time to a destination. According to NHTSA, at least 27 documented deaths caused by children being left in hot motor vehicles are reported each year.

Continue reading "Warm Temperatures Increase Risks for Missouri Children & Hot Car Deaths" »

This week, an Atlanta mother formally appealed a conviction of second-degree vehicular homicide. Raquel Nelson's young son was killed by a drunken hit and run driver as she and her family crossed the street: her plight earned national attention when she was charged and subsequently convicted in connection with her son's death.

The incident happened in April 2010. Nelson had spent the day out with her 2 daughters and young son, and the family was walking home from the bus stop. They needed to cross Austell Road to reach their apartment complex directly across the street, but the nearest crosswalks were a half mile away in either direction. Instead, the family crossed the northbound lanes to the median: as they crossed, 4 year-old A.J. darted away from his mother and ran towards his older sister, who had already crossed to the median safely. He ran directly into the path of an oncoming van. Nelson, who was carrying her young daughter, was also injured in the collision: she lunged towards A.J. in an attempt to save him.

It was later revealed that the driver of the van, Jerry Guy (who fled the scene), had been drinking and taking prescription pain medicine that day. He was also partially blind, and he had been convicted of hit and run on 2 separate occasions in 1997. Guy was also charged - he pled guilty and was sentenced to 6 months in prison. In contrast, Nelson could face 3 years in prison if her conviction is upheld. Prosecutors contend that because Nelson was jaywalking, she bears partial responsibility for her son's death.

It's certainly a controversial case. When Nelson was initially charged, the case received national media coverage, with Georgia prosecutors coming under heavy fire for opting to charge her. Also, it has brought attention to the dangers posed to pedestrians in suburban areas, particularly in Atlanta. Several of Nelson's supporters have argued that it was unreasonable to expect Nelson to walk half a mile with her 3 young children, cross the street, and then walk half a mile back to her home. Further, they argue, that her jaywalking offense doesn't make her criminally responsible for her son's death: instead, that burden lies with Guy.

Continue reading "Jaywalking Georgia Mother Fights Vehicular Homicide Conviction " »

There are few things sadder than hearing about a serious childhood accident or fatality. Our children are precious to us, and responsible parents go out of their way to keep their children safe. The death of a child is rightfully referred to as a tragic accident, but are these fatalities preventable for the most part? Missouri child accident attorneys were shocked by the results of a new study, indicating that most serious injuries and deaths of young children result from inadequate supervision or failure to protect children from harm.

Patricia Schnitzer, an associate professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing and the co-author of the study, says that although injuries to children may be unintentional, they can be prevented and many should not be considered accidents at all.

The CDC reports a shocking statistic: 7.1 million injury-related emergency room visits are made by children younger than 15 each year. Schnitzer's research (published in Injury Prevention) turned up the disquieting conclusion that the majority of injuries to young children are not the result of physical abuse. Rather, they are unintentional injuries including suffocation, being burned, ingestion of harmful substances, mainly resulting from inadequate supervision.

"Persistent references to tragic, freak, and horrible accidents indicate there is still important work needed to frame unintentional injuries as preventable," Schnitzer said. "Understanding and addressing social norms about the circumstances for child injuries - such as safe sleep environments for infants and the use of car seats, helmets and other safety devices - is important to creating effective prevention strategies."

Continue reading "Child Injury and Fatality Study Has Disquieting Results for Missouri Parents" »

Much of the evidence against Casey Anthony was circumstantial. Anthony was admittedly a liar. She was, in fact, convicted of providing false information to law enforcement officers. However, Missouri personal injury attorneys believe that the jury couldn't buy the prosecution's theory that she killed her daughter so she could party and hang out with her boyfriend.

As Juror #3 explained in a post verdict interview,

"If you're gonna charge someone with murder, don't you have to know how they killed someone or why they might have killed someone or have something where, when, why, how? Those are important questions. They were not answered."

To properly perform their role, jurors must weigh all the conflicting facts and theories, and be prepared to return a verdict of not guilty if they believe a conviction would be unjust.

Some legal analysts are claiming the prosecution overcharged the case; if they had charged her with lesser crimes, instead of first degree murder with the possibility of the death penalty, they would have had a better chance of conviction.

And many people are now wondering, if more evidence comes to light--can there be an appeal of the verdict? According to our laws, Anthony was acquitted of the murder of her daughter. An acquittal cannot be appealed. For Casey Anthony, the murder case is over, except for any time she might serve from her "misleading law enforcement" convictions.

Continue reading "Casey Anthony Verdict As Reviewed by Missouri Personal Injury Lawyers (part two) " »

The Missouri Personal Injury attorneys at Aaron Sachs have been watching the Casey Anthony trial, and the media uproar that has accompanied her acquittal. This case emphasizes the importance of our jury system as the foundation of justice in our country.

First, for those readers who are unfamiliar with the case, a brief synopsis:

Casey Anthony, 25, was charged with the murder of two year old Caylee. The prosecution claimed she chloroformed her daughter; then suffocated her with duct tape over her nose and mouth. The defense claimed the little girl accidentally drowned in the pool, and her mother panicked and kept the death a secret, making up a lie that her nanny had kidnapped her.

She was charged with seven counts -- first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to a law-enforcement officer.

She was acquitted of the murder charge by a jury of her peers, after only eleven hours of deliberation--shocking and outraging much of the public who had been closely following the six week trial. However, when interviewed post verdict, jury members said things such as,

"I wish we had more evidence to put her away. I truly do ..."

"Everybody agreed, if we were going fully on feelings and emotions, she was done."

And...

"We were sick to our stomach to get that verdict."

Continue reading "Casey Anthony Verdict As Reviewed by Missouri Personal Injury Lawyers (part one)" »