Mother of brain-damaged boy gets almost $38-million

By ABBIE VANSICKLEN and COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writers
Published November 30, 2007

A single mom and her brain-damaged baby won $37.85-million last week from a Hillsborough jury.

It was the second large verdict this year for Armando Lauritano, an attorney with Morgan & Morgan. In February, a jury in Sanford awarded $8.6-million to one of his clients.

His latest jury award goes to Michelle Coleman, who was 32 when she went to St. Joseph's Hospital to give birth to her first child.

Things didn't go well. Dr. Luciano Martinez Jr. ordered a caesarean section when the baby appeared to be in distress but didn't perform it until an hour and two minutes later. Hospital protocol required the procedure to be started within 30 minutes from the time it was ordered, Lauritano said.

Coleman's son suffered severe injuries either from the lack of oxygen or blood flow, Lauritano said. Now 4 years old, he can't see, walk, talk or sit up. He eats through a tube.

"The child was about as bad as he could be and still survive," Lauritano said. "It's a really sad story."

The hospital settled its part of the case during the first week of a three-week trial. Dr. Martinez is on the hook for 80 percent of the damages.

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Actor Wesley Snipes' attorney filed a motion Tuesday asking for limited disclosure of statistical information from jury records at the Ocala federal courthouse.

Robert E. Barnes, Snipes' attorney, said the defense wants to know the demographics of the jury pool for 2003 and 2005.

They may use it to support a pretrial motion aimed at ensuring that a fair cross section of potential jurors are called to Snipes' tax evasion trial in January.

In a Nov. 5 motion, Snipes' attorney called Ocala a "hotbed of Klan activity" and said the city is too racist to yield a fair jury for the trial.

Interim U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill said in court documents that Snipes' motion to have the trial moved because of race issues "hurls scurrilous and baseless accusations at the prosecution and citizenry of Ocala in an overwrought attempt to have this case dismissed or transferred to another venue."

The judge handling the case has not responded to either motion but set a Dec. 11 hearing for attorneys to address outstanding issues.

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Juan Otero has told his story to a television station. Now, an appeals court has cleared the way for him to tell it in court.

Among those closely watching the case of Jean Claude Meus, an imprisoned truck driver granted a new hearing in a vehicular homicide case, are reporters and producers at WTVT-Ch. 13 in Tampa.

It was a producer at the station who first took the phone call from Otero, a volunteer firefighter who said he had new evidence in the case.

Otero called in after seeing the station's stories on the case. He said Meus didn't appear sleepy at the crash site, a claim that differed from evidence presented in court.

Times staff writer Kevin Graham contributed to this story. Got a tip? For cops news, contact Abbie VanSickle at vansickle@sptimes.com or 813 226-3373. For courts news, contact Colleen Jenkins at cjenkins@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3337.

[Last modified November 30, 2007, 00:58:29]