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$2.8
Million Damages Awarded In Wreck Lawsuit
Reprinted From: Morning
Advocate, December 29, 1990
By: Mary Broussard, Westside Bureau
NEW ROADS - A district court judge
has awarded three Baton Rouge residents a total of $2.8 million
for a 1986 traffic accident in Pointe Coupee Parish that claimed
the life of a 21-year-old pregnant woman and her 6-month-old
daughter, court records show.
The suit alleged the state of
Louisiana and the state Department of Transportation and
Development allowed a dangerous and hazardous road condition to
exist and failed to take corrective action at the intersection of
La. 1 and La. 16 near the community of Lakeland. The suit also
alleged warming signals and traffic signs were not in place at the
time of the accident, records show.
Eighteenth Judicial District Judge
Edward Engolio assessed the state and Cook Construction Co. each
40 percent of the fault in the May 25,1985, accident, according to
attorney Bobby Freeman, one of the attorneys representing the
plaintiffs.
Engolio made his ruling earlier this
month, but ordered a typewritten transcript of the judgment, which
was filed in the Clerk of Court's Office on Friday.
Robert Funderburk, who represented
the state in the civil proceedings, could not be reached for
comment Friday afternoon. A secretary said he was on vacation. The
telephone operator said his home phone number was unpublished.
Cook Construction Co., which was
doing overlay and shoulder work on the road at the time of the
accident, settled its claim before Engoilo's judgment, Freeman
said.
Driver Mark Onagie, who filed the
lawsuit following the deaths of his pregnant wife and their
6-month-old daughter, was found 20 percent at fault in connection
with the accident, Freeman said.
Gnagie was in his 1971 Pinto and
proceeding south on La. 1 at the intersection when he collided
with an oncoming vehicle, Freeman said. His wife, Dana Gnagie,
was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. Their daughter,
Ashly Gnagie, died later at a Baton Rouge hospital, troopers
said.
Surviving passengers in the Gnagie
car, Danny and Shona Watts, also filed suit in connection with
injuries they received, court records show.
Gnagie was awarded $650,000 in
general damages, $211,950 in loss of future wages, $87,065 in
medical expenses and $30,000 for future medical expenses, Freeman
said.
The judge also awarded Gnagie
$600,000 for the wrongful death of his wife and $75,000 for the
couple's unborn fetus, Freeman said. Dana Gnagie was three and
one-half months pregnant at the time of her death, court records
show.
He also was awarded $250,000 for the
wrongful death of Ashly Gnagie, $35,000 for her suffering before
she died and $9,917 in medical expenses. Freeman said.
The judge granted Danny Watts
$408,754 for future loss of wages, $350,000 in general damages,
$55,893 for past medical expenses and $15,000 for future medical
expenses, Freeman said.
Shona Watts was awarded $10,000 in
general damages and $428 for medical expenses, Freeman said.
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