On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Premises Liability on Thursday, May 23, 2013
As most people know, property owners are responsible for the safety of anyone who enters onto their property. This is true for property owners from California to Massachusetts, who can be held liable if someone is injured because of unsafe conditions. Penalties against the property owner can even escalate if they are found to have known about dangerous conditions and negligently chose not to do anything about it.
According to a Massachusetts court, this is the exact reason why a new trial has been granted to a man who was paralyzed after doing a flip off of a trampoline and into a 2-foot wading pool in 2005. Initially, the jury ruled in favor of the property owners, stating that it was obvious that jumping off of a trampoline into shallow water was dangerous. But after it was discovered that the judge had given the jury improper instructions on how to determine liability, it was decided that the paralyzed man would have another chance to present his case.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Police in the Costa Mesa area of California are looking for the public's help in piecing together the events that led up to a deadly single-vehicle crash this month. Because the driver was pronounced dead at the scene and his passenger is considered to be in critical condition, police need help determining why the driver lost control of the vehicle, slamming into a tree in the process.
What police do know about the fatal car accident at this time is that the male driver was seen travelling along Bristol Street in Costa Mesa around 9 pm at a high rate of speed. Suddenly, the man lost control of the car which is reported to have spun out onto private property before colliding with a tree on the driver's side.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Medical Malpractice on Thursday, May 16, 2013
As many California residents will agree, Michael Jackson has been making headlines since he first appeared on television in 1969. While most critics spoke highly of his rise to fame, serious turmoil and malicious accusations seemed to weigh heavily on the former pop-star. Although his addiction to pain killers later in life was of little surprise to a majority of the nation, the dosage delivered to him by his primary healthcare physician was.
Though the doctor responsible for administering the powerful anesthetic that eventually killed Jackson in 2009 has since been sentenced to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, questions still exist over whether the doctor was guilty of committing medical negligence when he administered the injection. Jackson's mother seems to think so.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Wrongful Death on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
2011 was a tragic year for many hockey fans when 28-year-old defenseman Derek Boogaard passed away after an accidental overdoes of prescription drugs and alcohol. It was later discovered that the years of hockey and repeated blows to the head and caused him to develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CPE, a degenerative brain disease which can cause depression, confusion and even memory loss. Boogaard's family is now suing the NHL for negligent care of their players and for having a hand in his untimely death.
In the wrongful death lawsuit, the family says that after suffering multiple concussions, doctors prescribed him powerful painkillers. Despite the NHL's knowledge of CPE occurring in hockey players, trainers and medical staff contrinued to allow the defenseman to take the pills despite the risk. According to the lawsuit, the league acted negligently in his death by enabling his addiction to pain killers.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Premises Liability on Thursday, May 9, 2013
Ask any California resident and they'll tell you that buying your first home can be a scary experience. And especially with so many foreclosed homes and houses up for auction, it's even harder to know just what you're getting when you sign your mortgage. While a majority of states in the United States require the disclosure of a home's history, sometimes pieces of that history could be missing; and often times, these are the parts of history that can be the most dangerous.
Such was the case for an Oregon family recently who purchased a foreclosed home from Freddie Mac. The price made it seem like a dream come true; but when the family started to get sick, it quickly turned into a dangerous property and a nightmare.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Wrongful Death on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Many of our readers may already be aware of the tragic limousine fire that occurred on the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge recently. As media outlets across the nation pick up the story, more is being learned about the fatal accident and the safety issues on the vehicle operated by Limo Stop, that could have contributed to the wrongful deaths of the five women.
According to reports, the 46-year-old driver had picked up the nine women in Oakland and was supposed to transport the women to the Crowne Plaza Hotel 40 miles away. The women were on their way to a bachelorette party for one of the women in the group when a few on the women riding in the back of the limo noticed smoke coming from the back of the 1999 Lincoln Town Car.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Premises Liability on Thursday, May 2, 2013
California residents probably consider themselves to be among the few who know what it’s like to have to maintain pool-safety standards year round. But despite our vigilance, tragic accidents in which a person or child drowns in a pool continue to crop up in cities across the state, as well as other states across the nation.
A recent accident in New York, which ended in the drowning of two small children, is a reminder of just how important pool safety is and how preventable a drowning can be. In an effort to reduce the number of swimming pool accidents this summer, the Consumer Products Safety Commission established its Pool Safety campaign which is designed to educate parents and caregivers about using simple safety steps to make sure their pool is relatively risk-free this summer.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Recently, a motorcyclist took down two bicyclists in a car accident along the Mulholland Highway. Ironically, the entire bicycle accident was caught on tape. In the video, a red motorcycle collides into the back of one bike rider after initiating a left turn. When the motorcycle rider and bicyclist fall; however, the motorcycle continues by itself, colliding with a second biker.
Within moments of the incident, emergency personnel arrived at the scene. The good news is that one biker was able to return home after been discharged from a local hospital without a broken bone. Those who have witnessed the incident find this to be miraculous. Both cyclists are lucky to be alive.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Wrongful Death on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Golfers at the Westlake Golf Course in Westlake Village were surprised to find a small airplane in the middle of the fairaway this week. The plane had made an emergency crash landing on the golf course after colliding with another plane just over the Southern California mountains only moments earlier. While the occupants of this plane escaped with minor injuries, the pilot of the other plane was not as lucky.
According to Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, the two planes crossed flight paths just after 2 pm. While the planes clearly showed up on radar, flight controllers have not offered up any explanation as to why the planes were not directed away from each other just prior to the fatal accident.
On behalf of Mary Alexander & Associates, P.C. posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, April 25, 2013
The San Jose Fire Department was dispatched to a home just before 4 pm this week when a BMW being driven by a high school student crashed through the kitchen of the home, critically injuring the 40-year-old woman inside. While the investigation is still ongoing, information provided to them from witnesses in the area is providing law enforcement with the series of events that led to the accident.
According to police and eye witnesses, two BMWs had been seen speeding along the street just prior to the crash. At some point, the driver of the first BMW lost control of the vehicle, which then hopped the curb and slammed into the home. The second BMW was also wrecked in the dangerous accident and was found mangled on the sidewalk near the home.
