Martin County

(22) JOHN J. MARIO and GRACE MARIO, his wife vs. MELTON MANAGEMENT, INC., d/b/a McDONALD’S RESTAURANTS OF FLORIDA, INC.

 

County/Docket #/Judge: Martin / 2008 1110 CA / Marc Cianca

 

Plaintiff(s) Attorney(s) : Christopher Marlowe, Jeannete Lewis and Michael A. Haggard of The Haggard Law Firm, Coral Gables

 

Defendant(s) Attorney(s) : Mark H. Ruff, Jr., of Wicker, Smith, et al., West Palm Beach; Joseph J. Bottiglieri (pro hac vice) of Bonner, Kiernan, et al., Washington, D.C.

 

Age/Sex/Occupation Of Plaintiff: 57 / M / Home Improvement Store Employee

 

Cause Of Injury: Premises Liability/Shooting/Restaurant. On January 6, 2006, Plaintiff John Mario was a customer of Defendant McDonald’s restaurant located at 3546 Northwest Federal Highway in Martin County. Plaintiff alleged that in daylight hours while sitting in his vehicle and eating the food he had purchased, he was approached by Quentin Alexander Bradley in an armed robbery attempt.

 

Plaintiff said that Bradley entered Plaintiff’s vehicle and ordered Plaintiff at gunpoint to drive his vehicle off the McDonald’s property. Bradley subsequently shot Plaintiff in the head some distance from the restaurant and escaped in another vehicle which was driven by an accomplice. Bradley was eventually caught, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment at Florida State Prison in Raiford on charges of attempted murder, attempted robbery, and burglary.

 

In his lawsuit, Plaintiff alleged that the negligence of Defendant for failure to protect Plaintiff against the criminal acts of others caused Plaintiff permanent injuries. Plaintiff contended Defendant knew the restaurant was in a “high crime area” but failed to provide patrons with adequate security in the form of cameras, lighting and security guards.

 

Defendant denied Plaintiff’s claim of negligence and asserted Plaintiff’s injuries were due to the negligence of third parties. Defendant said it had 16 security cameras, four of which were outside on its premises at the time of the incident.

 

Nature Of Injury: Traumatic brain injury; skull fracture caused by gunshot wound which required debridement of the brain-opened skull and partial right cerebellar hemispherectomy. According to the deposition of Dr. Jacques N. Farkas, the doctor on trauma neurosurgery call at St. Mary’s Medical Center, Plaintiff was already intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation when Dr. Farkas first saw Plaintiff. A CT scan of the cervical spine showed the gunshot wound was located behind the right ear with no exit wound. There was no spine fracture but a bullet fragment was posterior to the spine and upper cervical spine. There was bleeding in the ventricular system and blood around the brain. There were depressed bone fragments inside the head and embedded in the brain. Dr. Farkas performed surgery, which included debridement of the brain-opened skull and a partial right cerebellar hemispherectomy, and he removed bullet and bone fragments and blood clots. Dr. Farkas inserted an intracranial pressure monitor and ventriculostomy. Plaintiff retained some bullet fragments in the brain and soft tissue around the back of his head. Plaintiff complained of ongoing residual sensory and motor nerve effects from his injuries such as vertigo, dizziness, speech problems, talking with a thick tongue, problems with chewing and swallowing, right arm shaking and balance problems with his right leg.

 

Plaintiff claimed loss of past wages and capacity for future earnings; Plaintiff’s wife, Grace, claimed past and future medical costs, related expenses for caring for her husband because of his permanent injuries, and loss of consortium.

 

Expert Witnesses:

Plaintiff's:

Craig Lichtblau, M.D., Physiatry, North Palm Beach (video depo)

Caron Faherty, Occupational Therapy, Jensen Beach

Merle Dimbath, Ph.D., Economics, Stuart

Jacques Farkas, M.D., Neurological Surgery, West Palm Beach

Michael Hodge, C.C.P., J.D., Security Consultant, Woodbridge, VA

Michael Peaster, Global Security Director, McDonald’s, Wheaton, IL

 

Defendant's:

Jon Groussman, J.D., Security Consultant, Naples

Gregg O. McCrary, M.A., Security Consultant, Quantico, VA

 

Verdict: For the Defendant on September 10, 2009.

 

Judgment: Final Judgment entered on January 8, 2010, in favor of Defendant.

 

Editor's Note: This was a six-and-a-half-day trial. The jury was composed of three males and three females. The jury deliberated for three-and-a-half hours. In its verdict the jury found there was no negligence on the part of Defendant that was a legal cause of loss, injury or damage to Plaintiff. The court denied Defendant’s motion for directed verdict at trial.

 

Plaintiff’s appeal of the Final Judgment is pending with the Fourth District Court of Appeal.