CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Kimball Jones delivering his closing argument
Las Vegas, NV - A Nevada state court jury delivered a $550 million verdict on Friday in a lawsuit filed by the widow of a man struck and killed on his way to church by a heavily intoxicated driver, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The Clark County jury awarded $50 million in compensatory damages and $500 million in punitive damages to plaintiff Nimfa Escobia, who sued defendant Kevin Raspperry following the death of her husband Marcial in 2019. The trial involved only a determination of damages after Judge Mark Denton granted a motion for summary judgment finding Rasppberry, who was criminally convicted for the crash, liable for Marcial’s death.
The plaintiff team sought $90 million in compensatory damages, however the defense argued for a lower award of $7 million and no award of punitive damages.
Unlimited on-demand access to video of the trial is available with a subscription to CVN’s online trial video library, which also includes hundreds of other civil trials featuring many of the top plaintiff and defense attorneys throughout the United States.
Nimfa’s attorney Kimball Jones of Bighorn Law described to jurors how Rasppberry slammed into Nimfa and Marcial’s car at an intersection while traveling 107 mph in a 45 mph zone. The collision occurred while Marcial - a former priest then working as a nurse - was on his way to church and Rasppberry was returning home from a bender the night before still intoxicated on alcohol, meth, ecstasy and marijuana.
Jones told CVN after the trial he is optimistic about the fate of the punitive damages award on appeal, although Nevada law limits punitive awards to three times the amount of compensatory damages if compensatory damages are $100,000 or more.
“We feel good about the punitive award on appeal,” he said. “This is a tragic case of an avoidable wrongful death crash. Defendant Raspperry's behavior was about as reprehensible as it gets.”
Jones said he thinks Rasppberry’s apparent lack of remorse, both in his deposition testimony and his defenses in the lawsuit before being found liable on summary judgment, played a key role in swaying the jury.
“Defendant Raspperry's deposition was presented by both sides, and I believe his deposition testimony was unfavorable to the defense,” he said. “Defendant Raspperry's behavior was appalling and he continues to claim the crash was not his fault.”
Jones explained how the insurer handling the case, USAA, agreed to pay out a policy limit settlement to Raspperry's mother, the owner of the car, but that Raspperry himself was not part of that settlement.
“Ultimately, USAA recognized its breach and began representing Mr. Raspperry but never made any reasonable settlement offers, forcing the case to trial,” he said.
Rasppberry’s attorneys Jason Fowler and George Ranalli of Ranalli Zaniel Fowler & Moran LLC did not respond to a request for comment.
The case is captioned Nimfa Escobia v. Kevin Raspperry, case number A-21-842834-C.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com