The parents of Katherine and Elizabeth Jackson received great news from a Hillsborough County civil jury when they were awarded $10.6 million in the case involving the death of one of their daughters and permanent injury of another. In 1997, Debra Jackson was turning into the Hunter's Green subdivision when a drunk driver hit her car, killing daughter Katherine, and permanently disabling daughter Elizabeth. Although the drunken driver was sentenced to sixteen years in prison, the Jacksons felt that he alone was not responsible for the accident.
The Jacksons believe that Markborough Development Co. and the Hunter's Green Community Association were partially to blame for the accident. According to the Jacksons' lawyers, the median separating the road and the entrance to Hunter's Green subdivision was filled with improperly planted trees and shrubs, making it impossible for drivers to see and determine when it was safe to make the turn. Markborough and the Hunter's Green Community Association both stated that the trees and shrubs were planted and maintained correctly and with the approval of the County. They also contended that had the median and its shrubbery been a problem, other members of the 2,000 home community would have complained. According to their records, there were no such complaints.
The trial lasted three weeks, and after twelve hours of deliberation, the three-man and three-woman jury concluded that Markborough and Hunter's Green Community Association were partially to blame. The jury determined that Markborough was 45 percent at fault and that the Hunter's Green Community Association should bear 10 percent of the blame. According to the jury, the remaining 45 percent was the fault of the drunk driver, Harold Vann.
The money awarded to the Jackson family will help cover the costs of Elizabeth Jackson's hospitalization and continued home care. That money includes $533,000 for previous medical costs associated with the accident and $2.3 million for future costs. Experts testified that Elizabeth may live another twenty years, although her family believes that she will live into her 50's. Some of the money awarded to the family will pay for her lost earnings. The jury also awarded the family monetary damages for the wrongful death of Katherine.
Lawyers for the Jackson family say that this advantageous outcome will go a long way in repairing the reputation of Debra Jackson, whom many people in her community "maligned" and "shunned" because they believed she had caused the accident. The Jacksons also hope that the money they have been awarded can be used for medical breakthroughs, including new brain injury treatments for their daughter Elizabeth.