Jury Announces Part Of Verdict In Civil Suit Against An Electric Company Involved In Electrocution Death In Bricktown
Beverly Cantrell - November 10, 2021 11:13 am
OKLAHOMA CITY – News 9
Closing arguments on Tuesday officially ended the civil suit involving the electrocution death at the Bricktown Canal.
The City of Oklahoma City has already settled with Wesley Seeley’s mom, Ginger Hinshaw, and Brandon Gann, the good Samaritan that tried to jump in to help.
This lawsuit was against Libra Electric, a company that did work for the city in 2018. Libra was instructed to remove the bollards in front of Brickopolis about six months before Seeley’s fall.
Employees were told to stop work by the city.
The plaintiffs argue that the electric company did not “put back” the bollards properly and didn’t tell the City about the dangerous conditions around the canal.
The defense team denied their claims and in closing arguments, asked that the jury look at the facts and not equate sympathy with liability.
The jury deliberated for about two and a half hours.
About 5 p.m., they came back with one part of the verdict; the actual damages.
They did find Libra Electric acted in reckless disregard.
These were amounts the jury decided on for damages:
- $3 million for Hinshaw, Seeley’s mom
- $5 million for Brandon Gann, the good Samaritan who tried to save Seeley and was badly injured
- $500,000 for Gann’s wife, Taylor
The jury has not announced the stage two portion of the verdict for punitive damages.