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Lawrenceville, GA— Jurors heard evidence surrounding a 2021 crash that killed a Georgia woman, as a damages trial opened against the driver of the van that caused the collision and the company that employed him. Skinner, et al. v. Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services, LLC, et al., 21-C-06893-S2.
Elejina Lo, then 31, was stopped at a traffic light on Highway 316 in Gwinnett County, Georgia when her vehicle was struck from behind by a Ford T350 van driven at highway speed by Cameron Smith, working for Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services Georgia. Lo ultimately died in the crash.
Smith and Curtis Bay Georgia admit he caused the crash and that the company was negligent in hiring him, but they dispute the damages Lo’s estate seeks, including punitive damages against Smith and pain and suffering damages before her death.
As trial opened Wednesday, attorneys for each side focused on the crash and its fallout, including how to award compensation for Lo’s lost life.
Morgan & Morgan’s Keith Mitnik, representing the administrator of Lo’s Estate, said evidence would show the van was going more than 65 miles per hour through a construction zone when it struck Lo’s vehicle, and that Smith was likely overly tired, using his phone, and distracted at the time of the crash.
In suggesting he would seek more than $100 million in the case, Mitnik told jurors that the value of Lo’s lost life should go beyond estimates of her potential future earnings and instead should also measure less tangible elements, including the lifetime of joy that the fatal crash cost her.
“Yes, that’s a lot of money,” Mitnik said, after previewing testimony of Lo's strong bonds with friends and family. “But when you’re looking at the particular loss of this particular life, I suggest to you [that] the conversation doesn’t start less than that,” Mitnik said.
However, in his opening, Curtis Bay Georgia's attorney, Matthew Moffett, of Gray, Rust, St. Amand, Moffett Brieske, told jurors evidence would show Lo suffered from health conditions that could have reduced her natural life expectancy, and an economist would testify that Lo may have earned roughly $2 million throughout the remainder of her life, had the fatal crash not occurred.
“Nobody wins here. This is a terrible, sad situation that somebody’s lost their life,” Moffett said. “But now it’s time to resolve it, fairly, justly, [and] in accordance with the law. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Meanwhile, Smith’s attorney, Hall Booth Smith’s Michael Williams, told jurors that, while Smith admitted fault in the crash, evidence would show he was not fatigued or using his phone when the crash occurred.
“Cameron will tell you that the accident was not caused by fatigue,” Williams said. “The accident was caused because he diverted his attention from the roadway in front of him. And when he turned back around, he was unable to stop.”
Trial is expected to go to the jury by the end of this week.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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