Douglas County jury awards record amount in wrongful death lawsuit

The family of a 29-year-old Kansas woman who died in November 2020 while attempting to help a tow truck driver load her disabled vehicle will receive more than $2 million after a Douglas County jury found two defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit 51 percent liable.

Kansas City plaintiff’s attorney Nick Hinrichs said that Lindsay Raine was found dead, face down, at the bottom of her steep, sloped Lawrence driveway — an event that her estate argued could have only been caused if the tow truck had run her over — though Raine was found beneath her own vehicle.

At trial, the defense countered that Raine was 100 percent at fault, Hinrichs said, “due to her pushing her own vehicle off the blocks and creating a dangerous situation.” Defense attorneys for the tow truck company and its driver could not be reached for comment.

Hinrichs said that the tow truck driver instructed Raine that “it would be easier to load the vehicle if it was rolled out of the driveway into the street.”

The tow truck driver told Raine that he intended to reposition her truck, by driving it down the street, to turn it around and park it in front of the driveway facing a different direction, the attorney continued.

The driver testified that after telling Raine to “just wait,” she saw the woman instead push her vehicle off the cinder blocks that had kept it in place, watching as Raine ran alongside the now “free rolling” car but then losing sight of both.

At trial in early February, the jury awarded slightly more than $4.5 million in damages, deeming Raine 49 percent responsible — and with her estate thus receiving $2.299 million — an amount Hinrichs called the largest wrongful death award in county history.

The jurors found driver Erin Van Natta 18 percent responsible, with her employer, Hillcrest Towing, 33 percent liable.

An earlier trial ended prematurely, Hinrichs said, after defense counsel “unintentionally played excluded testimony” in their case during a videotaped deposition of one of their experts.

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$4.508 million plaintiff’s verdict

Wrongful death/motor vehicle collision

Allocation of fault: 49 percent to plaintiff; 33 percent to Hillcrest; 18 percent to VanNatta

Venue: Douglas County, Kansas Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 2021-CV-250

Caption: Laticia Raine, individually and as a representative of the wrongful death class of decedent, Lindsay Raine v. Erin Van Natta, Hillcrest Wrecker and Towing

Plaintiff’s experts: Dustin Phillips, Kingdom Trucking, Kansas City (commercial vehicle safety); John Ward, Prairie Village, Kansas (economics)

Defendant’s experts: Scott Turner, Naples, Florida (accident reconstruction); Ernest Chiodo, Harrison Township, Michigan (medical expert)

Judge: District Judge Mark Simpson

Plaintiff’s attorneys: Nick Hinrichs (lead) and Heather Hatley, Hinrichs & Scott, Kansas City

Defendant’s attorneys: James Godfrey, Jr. (lead); Kerry Banahan Dagestad; Marc Middleton, Evans & Dixon, St. Louis