$281M jury verdict in wrongful death suit involving Army vet reduced

[TexasTowelie]

Carlos Aguilar Sr. is shown in this military photo.

A Laredo family who was awarded $281 million by a Dimmit County jury in a wrongful death lawsuit had the amount reduced late Tuesday by Dimmit County judge.

The family of Carlos Aguilar, who was killed in 2012, will receive $160 million because of a law that puts a cap on punitive damages.

Aguilar, 31, was a passenger in a work truck driving on FM 133 near Catarina in Dimmit County when a driveshaft assembly of an 18-wheeler ahead broke free and crashed through the window, killing Aguilar.

The remainder of the story is behind a paywall at http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2014/01/08/front/news/doc52cdf6f69143f268734762.txt .

Here is the underlying story about the court verdict from the San Antonio Express-News on December 7, 2013:

The large verdict came late Thursday after a trial in which the family of Carlos Aguilar, an Army veteran who was in his 30s, had sued Heckmann Water Resources and its employee Ruben Osorio Hernandez.

The lawsuit said the incident happened May 29, 2012, when Osorio was driving a Heckmann tractor-trailer on FM 133 in Dimmitt County and the drive shaft broke off from under the truck. The part plowed through the windshield of a pickup that Aguilar was a passenger in, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleged that the drive shaft broke because the defendants did not properly maintain the tractor-trailer.

The jury found Heckmann negligent, but not Osorio. Besides damages for Aguilar's children, the verdict includes $100 million in punitive damages against the company.

The full story is at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Shale-company-ordered-to-pay-281M-in-wrongful-5044466.php .