Pensacola County

(38) ESTATE OF MICHELLE EVETTE MCCALL, Edward M. McCall, Margarita F. McCall, and Jason Wallery V. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division)    

 

County/Docket #/Judge: Pensacola / 07-cv-508 / M. Casey Rodgers

 

Plaintiff(s) Attorney(s): Henry T. Courtney and Sara M. Courtney-Baigorri, Courtney Law Firm, Coral Gables, and Stephen St. Remy Poche, Poche and Lorenz, Shalimar

 

Defendant(s) Attorney(s): Pamela A. Moine, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Pensacola

 

Age/Sex/Occupation Of Plaintiff: Michelle McCall (decedent) 20 / Female / n/a

 

Cause Of Injury: Wrongful Death/Medical Malpractic/High-Risk Delivery. Plaintiffs said that their daughter, Michele McCall, died while delivering her son.  At the time of delivery, plaintiffs said that their daughter was receiving care at the Eglin Air Force Base.

 

Plaintiffs maintained that the medical staff failed to respond to decedent’s vital signs during her prolonged, high-risk delivery.  Plaintiffs said that although decedent died, her son, W.W., was uninjured during delivery.

 

Nature Of Injury: Death

 

Verdict: $1,980,462.40 for Plaintiff on Sept. 30, 2009 (To Jason Walley for the benefit of W.W., $705,234 for loss of past and future household and related services, $235,000 for loss of financial support, and $250,000 for noneconomic damages; to the estate of Michelle McCall, loss of net accumulations, reduced to present value of $30,752.40; to Edward McCall II, $9,476 for funeral expenses and $375,000 for noneconomic damages; to Margarita F. McCall, $375,000 for non-economic damages).

 

Editor's Note: The case was tried before the judge without a jury on Aug. 31, 2009, and Sept. 1, 2009. 

 

Also at issue during the trial was the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment, which the judge denied.

 

Following the verdict, the plaintiffs filed a motion to alter the judgment, arguing that the judge erroneously capped the non-economic damages at $1 million.  The judge denied the motion on Oct. 30, 2009.

 

Defendant filed a notice of appeal to the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.