After three weeks of trial, a federal court jury in Wichita, Kansas found that the design of the roof of the 1982 Subaru station wagon, in which Steve Compton was a rear seat passenger, was defective and unreasonably dangerous. The jury awarded damages of $ 11.7 million and assigned Subaru of America, Inc. and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. 56% of the fault. Our client Steve Compton was rendered a quadriplegic during a low-speed roll-over when the roof surrounding the rear seat passenger compartment crushed excessively.
This was the first case in which Lynn Johnson and his trial team of Pat Hamilton and Diane Huey used a computer animation to assist their occupant kinematics experts in explaining the roof crush and injury mechanism. The animation was prepared by Brad Mathison of Fearless Eye, a computer consulting firm in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Mathison worked with the plaintiffs accident reconstruction and occupant kinematics experts to obtain precise measurements of both the accident and exemplar vehicles. These measurements were the bases for an animation showing the roof crush of the Subaru during the roll-over and how it caused the spinal cord injury to Steve Compton. The use of the animation was challenged vigorously by the defense counsel. However, after trial briefs, oral arguments and the testimony of Mr. Mathison, the animation was admitted into evidence. Lynn believes the animation was one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case because it enabled the jury to visualize in three dimensions the manner in which the roof crushed into Steve Comptons occupant protection space during the roll-over.
A key to the evidentiary foundation for the animation was the accident vehicle. During the early days of his investigation of the case, Lynn decided to purchase both the accident vehicle and an identical Subaru. Throughout the discovery both the accident and the exemplar vehicles were measured, photographed, videotaped and poked and prodded numerous times. Without both, the animation would have been impossible to complete. For trial both vehicles were transported to Wichita and housed in an exhibition room at a local hotel. The room was arranged like a courtroom and pursuant to agreement between counsel it was used throughout the trial when testimony or other evidence was presented on the roof design and accident sequence.
The presentation of the case was complicated by the fact that Steve Compton and his friends had been drinking the day of the accident. Rather than avoid this issue, Lynn raised it first in voir dire. He asked questions about the jurors own experiences with drinking and driving, whether they had teenage children, and their concerns about teenage drinking. During trial, Lynn asked Steve Compton questions that allowed him to talk directly to the jury about the drinking that occurred. Steve Compton openly accepted responsibility for his conduct and the conduct of his friends, and Lynn told the jury that fault should be apportioned to Steve, the driver, and the front seat passenger.
Steve Compton is the first quadriplegic ever to graduate from Kansas State University in four years time. He is a young man of great courage and determination and we are proud that he is our client.
