Estate of Jamie Scott Powell, et al. v. BNSF Railway Co.

Summary

A California state court jury rejected claims from the family of a deceased U.S. Navy sailor that potholes and allegedly unsafe railroad tracks caused him to fly off his motorcycle and into oncoming traffic.

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Outcome

Verdict for the defense

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Estate of Jamie Scott Powell
Defense: BNSF Railway Company
City of San Diego

Judge: John Meyer
Jurisdiction: Superior Court of California, San Diego County
Court: Central Courthouse

Case Number: 37-2015-00017317-CU-PO-CTL
Industry: Transportation
Practice Area: Transportation, Negligence

Plaintiff

Estate of Jamie Scott Powell

Represented By:
Morrison, Rebecca (Blain Morrison Law Corporation)
Fusselman, Ian (Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire)

Defense

BNSF Railway Company

Represented By:
Sonnett, Anthony (Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP )
Brooks, James (Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP )

Defense

City of San Diego

Represented By:
Boardman, Jane (Office of the San Diego City Attorney)
McGeehan, Kelly (Office of the San Diego City Attorney)

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

PM Session

Openings

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Opening Statement	Morrison, Rebecca
00:19:49	Opening Statement	Sonnett, Anthony
00:47:35	Opening Statement	Boardman, Jane
01:08:13	Break
01:27:43	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Castillo, Jose "Joe"	In Person
02:09:26	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Castillo, Jose "Joe"	In Person
02:38:20	Witness Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Castillo, Jose "Joe"	In Person
02:43:53	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Castillo, Jose "Joe"	In Person
02:46:52	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Castillo, Jose "Joe"	In Person
02:48:22	End of Session

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

15 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Harris, De Arcy	In Person
00:07:05	Witness Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Harris, De Arcy	In Person
00:15:31	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Harris, De Arcy	In Person
00:17:18	Witness Direct Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Royer, David	In Person
01:05:34	Witness Cross Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Royer, David	In Person
01:25:41	Break
01:45:29	Witness Cross Examination	Brooks, James	Royer, David	In Person
01:46:34	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Royer, David	In Person
01:55:32	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Buzzyna, Mark	In Person
02:19:38	Witness Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Buzzyna, Mark	In Person
02:22:22	Witness Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Buzzyna, Mark	In Person
02:26:07	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Buzzyna, Mark	In Person
02:27:53	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Buzzyna, Mark	In Person
02:28:13	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Draeger, Michael	Video Recording
02:52:14	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Draeger, Michael	Video Recording
00:18:28	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Simon, Melissa	In Person
00:31:13	Witness Cross Examination	Boardman, Jane	Simon, Melissa	In Person
00:32:33	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Simon, Melissa	In Person
00:34:42	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Hawkins, William	In Person
01:13:34	Break
01:31:58	Witness Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Hawkins, William	In Person
01:44:50	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Hawkins, William	In Person
01:47:50	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Hawkins, William	In Person
01:54:07	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Hawkins, William	In Person
01:54:57	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Severid, Roland	Video Recording
02:30:25	End of Session

JUL

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Ezra, Mark	In Person
01:03:21	Break
01:25:30	Witness Direct Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Ezra, Mark	In Person
01:33:54	Witness Cross Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Ezra, Mark	In Person
02:28:04	Witness Cross Examination	Boardman, Jane	Ezra, Mark	In Person
02:52:15	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Ezra, Mark	In Person
02:54:59	End of Session

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Blackwell, Mr. Alan	In Person
00:42:10	Witness Cross Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Blackwell, Mr. Alan	In Person
01:23:51	Break
01:41:24	Witness Cross Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Blackwell, Mr. Alan	In Person
02:04:08	Witness Cross Examination	Boardman, Jane	Blackwell, Mr. Alan	In Person
02:06:33	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Blackwell, Mr. Alan	In Person
02:09:11	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Williams, Mr.	Video Recording
02:28:48	Witness Cross Examination	Brooks, James	Williams, Mr.	Video Recording
02:50:27	End of Session

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Easley, Jeff	In Person
00:16:51	Witness Direct Examination	Brooks, James	Easley, Jeff	In Person
00:59:47	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Easley, Jeff	In Person
01:07:58	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Brooks, James	Easley, Jeff	In Person
01:08:56	Break
01:34:13	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Lahmann, Joshua	In Person
01:46:02	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Lahmann, Joshua	In Person
02:11:58	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Lahmann, Joshua	In Person
02:14:41	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Powell, Georgianna	In Person
02:40:00	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Poole, James	In Person
02:50:31	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Poole, James	In Person
00:17:42	General Case Activities
00:18:39	Witness Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Cababa, Edmund	In Person
00:46:12	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Cababa, Edmund	In Person
00:53:50	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Cababa, Edmund	In Person
00:56:36	Break
01:04:20	Witness Direct Examination	Brooks, James	Sanchez, Jason	In Person
01:15:50	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Sanchez, Jason	In Person
01:17:24	Witness Re-Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Sanchez, Jason	In Person
01:19:41	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Brooks, James	Ruzak, Edward	In Person
00:43:51	Witness Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Ruzak, Edward	In Person
00:56:59	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Ruzak, Edward	In Person
01:09:36	Break
01:31:35	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Perdue, Officer John	In Person
02:21:51	Witness Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Perdue, Officer John	In Person
02:25:08	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Perdue, Officer John	In Person
02:34:56	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Perdue, Officer John	In Person
02:39:35	Witness Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Conkle, Officer Kevin	In Person
02:47:31	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Fuentes, Julio	In Person
00:23:55	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Fuentes, Julio	In Person
00:29:48	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Fuentes, Julio	In Person
00:37:07	Witness Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Griffin, Chris	In Person
00:45:51	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Anderson, Steven	In Person
01:12:45	Break
01:26:22	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Anderson, Steven	In Person
02:34:56	Witness Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Anderson, Steven	In Person
02:43:45	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Anderson, Steven	In Person
02:49:50	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Anderson, Steven	In Person
00:58:18	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Anderson, Steven	In Person
01:12:50	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Sonnett, Anthony	Anderson, Steven	In Person
01:14:12	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Fusselman, Ian	Anderson, Steven	In Person
01:16:10	Break
01:37:10	Witness Direct Examination	Boardman, Jane	Landre, Thomas	In Person
01:45:50	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Landre, Thomas	In Person
01:48:03	Witness Direct Examination	McGeehan, Kelly	Fraijo, Kristina	Video Recording
01:54:55	Witness Cross Examination	Morrison, Rebecca	Fraijo, Kristina	Video Recording
01:59:03	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Brooks, James	Fraijo, Kristina	Video Recording
02:00:52	End of Session

AUG

AM Session

Closings

4 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

5 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

AUG

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Estate of Jamie Scott Powell, et al. v. BNSF Railway Co.

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

AudioCaseFiles

Essentials

Training Libraries

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	Closing Statement	Fusselman, Ian
01:15:19	Break
01:29:40	Closing Statement	Boardman, Jane
02:49:26	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:03:20	General Case Activities
		00:05:11	End of Session