West Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

The widow of a man who died two years ago after being in a West Virginia jail has filed a wrongful death suit. Tina Cline filed suit in Berkeley County Civil Court against individuals and groups that included the Berkeley County Commission, the Sheriff's Deputy, an Eastern Regional Jail nurse, and the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. She accused them of negligence in allowing her husband, Donald Cline, to be admitted to jail without first receiving a medical evaluation from a physician. Had he received one, she believes that he would be alive today.

On July 21, 2009, Donald Cline was arrested on charges of driving under the influence after being involved in a traffic accident. While in custody, Cline was allegedly unable to keep his eyes open, had slurred speech, and repeatedly fell to the ground. The Sheriff's Deputy, Chris Cocchran, claimed that he smelled strongly of alcohol and that a 24-ounce can was found on the floorboard of his truck, with a puddle of beer. Yet the suit alleges that when Cline's blood alcohol level was tested, it was far below the legal limit.

Three hours after his arrest, Cline was transferred to the Eastern Regional Jail, where he was medically screened by a nurse. The next morning, he was found in a fetal position in his cell with no pulse. Cline was pronounced dead at City Hospital in Martinsburg, the cause of death ruled to be intoxication by a combination of drugs. The autopsy revealed traces of methadone, carisoprodol, diazepine, and butalbital in his system.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that roughly 1,000 people died each year in local jails between 2000 and 2007. More than 1,100 died in 2007, with most (566) dying because of illness and 79 dying of drug/alcohol intoxication. While it is easy to condemn people whose actions result in jail time, we should keep in mind that jailers still have a responsibility to keep those in their custody safe. Yet too often, jails and prisons don't provide the level of health care needed to prevent serious illness or death. While Donald Cline may have violated the law, he did not deserve to die for it.

In a wrongful death suit, a West Virginia wrongful death attorney tries to ensure that the plaintiff can collect a money award for loss of support and services, medical expenses, and other types of injury. You might also be able to collect punitive damages if you could show that the defendant's behavior was intentionally or grossly negligent. One issue in the Cline case is whether the jury will be convinced that the jail workers' negligence was mostly to blame for Cline's death. West Virginia operates under a system of "modified comparative negligence": if you are partially to blame for an accident, you can still collect a money award in a lawsuit if your level of fault does not reach 50%. If you are 50% or more responsible for the accident, you are not eligible to collect. It is possible that a jury in the Cline case may decide that Cline's decision to take drugs and drink alcohol makes him equally responsible for his death. An experienced attorney would make sure that the tragic details of the jail's neglect were made known before the jury made its decision. At the very least, the Wolfe Law Firm hopes that this serves as a cautionary tale to jail workers to take their responsibility to those in their custody seriously.

In more bad news from the coal mining industry, another miner lost his life in a West Virginia coal mine. Charles M. Hall, a miner with nearly six years of experience, died from being hit by a falling rock at the Moutaineer II Mine in Logan County, owned by Arch Coal Inc. Hall had been installing roof supports when the accident occurred. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Hall's death marks the thirteenth this year from coal mine accidents, five in West Virginia alone. Last year, Arch Coal Inc. was fined $320,000 for more than 300 federal safety citations in the Mountaineer II mine, although its injury rate was lower than the national average. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has kept a record of the coal mining deaths, finding the cause of death to range from machinery accidents to power haulage accidents to falling.

The last major mine safety legislation passed was in 2006, the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act. MINER amended the 30-year old Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, requiring prompt notification of accidents, creating steeper civil penalties, and adding regulations for rescue teams and sealing abandoned mines. Though that improved mine safety considerably, it was clear after accidents like the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine explosion that killed 29 miners that more needed to be done. In January of this year, the MSHA proposed several new mine safety regulations, including stopping mining companies from using appeals of safety regulation citations to avoid tougher sanctions. These new regulations have yet to be enacted, but in the meantime, MSHA has continued to take a firm line against companies that violate safety measures. Recently it fined R&D Mine Coal Company, owner of the Buck Mountain Mine in neighboring Virginia, more than $900,000 for the 2006 death of a coal miner in an explosion.

MSHA regulations have led to a steep decline in the number of mine accidents, but it may be years before we can truly say that unnecessary coal mining deaths have been eliminated. Until then, those who have lost loved ones to coal mine accidents can try to find relief in court. Many families hire a West Virginia wrongful death attorney and institute a wrongful death suit against the employer. The Wolfe Law Firm has years of experience with wrongful death claims and knows how to pursue it under the specific requirements of West Virginia law. One of the most common causes of wrongful death is an accident that occurs during the course of employment.

If your loved one died in a workplace accident, especially a coal mine, you might argue that the employer was negligent for failing to follow safety regulations. The employer's violations resulted in the injury that led to your loved one's death. An experienced attorney would know how to obtain records and expert testimony to provide strong evidence for your case. If you succeed, you could get a money award ("damages") that covers medical and funeral expenses, loss of earnings, and mental anguish. In West Virginia, you could also get punitive damages if you could prove that the employer was intentionally or grossly negligent.

The son of the Chapmanville mayor died in a motorcycle accident on Route 10 in Logan County, West Virginia. Cory Price, a 21-year old firefighter, collided with an oncoming Plymouth Neon that had strayed across the center divide. Price was taken to Saint Mary's Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

The Neon driver Thomas Lee Dillon claimed that he lost control of the car before it crossed the center divide. The cause is not yet known, but the Logan County Sheriff's Department is investigating the accident. Meanwhile, Logan County mourns the loss of a "popular and heralded community servant" who belonged to the Logan Fire Department and the Chapmanville Volunteer Fire Department, and was an EMT with the Logan County Ambulance Authority.

Many people love taking their motorcycles out on winding country roads, but this form of transportation is one of the riskiest in the country. In 2006, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists were 35 times more likely to get into a fatal crash than someone in a passenger car. The State of West Virginia requires motorcycle riders to wear safety helmets and eye protection, and use headlights during the day. Yet even if you operate your motorcycle safely according to the law, your exposure makes you vulnerable to a serious accident. Cory Price did not appear to be responsible for the fatal collision, though there is no evidence of whether he wore a helmet. Several West Virginia counties, such as Harrison, have alarmingly high fatality statistics. Those who don't die may have to live with serious spinal cord or brain injuries for the rest of their lives.

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Six miners were injured when their cart jumped the tracks and derailed at the Tunnel Ridge Mine in Tridelphia, West Virginia. West Liberty's Volunteer Fire Chief called it the most severe mine accident he has handled since the mine opened. The mine is owned by Alliance Resource Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The miners were leaving the mine at the end of their shift, around 7 pm on July 30th. As the cart was coming down a hill and making a turn, it hit a wall. The miners were taken by ambulance to the Ohio Valley Medical Center for treatment. Though one suffered a broken ankle as a result, none of the miners sustained serious injuries. Five of the six miners have been released from the hospital, and the one that remains is listed as being in good condition. Alliance will conduct an investigation into the cause of the accident.

The Tunnel Ridge Mine opened in 2008, with the aim of mining 70.5 million tons of high-sulfur coal on 9,400 acres located in Ohio County in West Virginia and Washington County in Pennsylvania. Mining operations began in the second half of 2010. While Alliance Resource Partners does not have the reputation of Massey Energy Company for ignoring safety, its mines have been the scenes of previous accidents. In April 2010, two miners were killed when the roof collapsed at the Dotiki Mine in neighboring Kentucky. In October 2010, one miner was killed after being hit by a shuttle car at the River View Mine, also in Kentucky.

Fortunately, the accident involving the six miners at Tunnel Ridge did not have a tragic outcome. While coal mining is a vital industry in West Virginia, one that many families have proudly taken part in generation after generation, it is also filled with risks. It is important for safety hazards to be minimized whenever possible. We at the Wolfe Law Firm hope that Alliance Resource Partners conducts a thorough investigation and makes any necessary safety upgrades as quickly as possible.

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This blog has previously discussed the allure of all terrain vehicles (ATVs). They are rugged and exciting, and can take you through back country areas quickly and easily. However, they are also very dangerous. Don't be fooled into thinking that because they have three, four, even six wheels, you will be protected from accidents: they have mortality rates comparable to motorcycles. Often the reason for the death and injury rate is the driver's failure to wear a helmet. A person not wearing a helmet is three times more likely to suffer an injury from an ATV accident. Recently, an ATV accident claimed the life of yet another person in West Virginia.

Dakota Austin "Kody" Mullis, a 17-year old from North Carolina, was spending the weekend riding ATVs with family and friends in the Hatfield-McCoy trail system known as the "stair step." At the end of the day, Mullis and his girlfriend decided to take one last ride before turning in. Since it was supposed to last 20 minutes, Mullis did not bring a helmet. "He never rode without his helmet, but this time he did," his aunt noted. During a race up the trail in the twilight, Mullis and his girlfriend ended up losing control of their vehicles and hitting a guard rail. Both were thrown into an embankment, with Mullis being thrown nearly 50 feet into the air and finally hitting a tree. Although Mullis's girlfriend alerted first responders, he was declared dead at Bluefield Regional Medical Center.

Doctors believe that even if Mullis had worn a helmet, the impact when he hit the tree and the ground might have been too great to survive. Still, no one will ever know. Now a North Carolina community is left to mourn a young man who would have been a senior in high school and was planning to join the military after graduation.

We at the Wolfe Law Firm express our deepest condolences to Mullis's friends and family. There are so many "What ifs" in this situation. Mullis might have lost control of the vehicle through human error, though news articles suggest that he has used ATVs multiple times. It is also possible that this is more than just a tragic accident: there might have been something wrong with the vehicle itself. There is no information on how old Mullis's ATV was or where he purchased it. If there is anything to suggest that the vehicle itself had a defect, his family might consider filing a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer. In a product liability lawsuit, you would argue that the manufacturer was strictly liable because the ATV had a manufacturing defect (that particular ATV was unreasonably dangerous when it came off the assembly line), a design defect (all of that model ATV had control problems), or a warning label that failed to point out all foreseeable dangers. If the product is found to have a defect, the manufacturer will be liable even if it was not negligent -- that is, even if it acted with reasonable care. You can still receive a money award in a product liability case even if you or your loved one was partially responsible for the accident -- just as long as your fault does not rise to 50% or more in West Virginia.

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