Texas Appellate Court Affirms $11M Jury Verdict for Deadly Choctaw Casino Bus Crash
A Texas appellate court has affirmed an $11 million verdict against the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, upholding a May 2016 jury verdict that the Choctaw Casino bore responsibility for a deadly 2013 crash of a charter bus carrying elderly North Texas residents to the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Okla.
A release from the lead trial counsel describes the ruling:
On Tuesday (May 29), a three-judge panel from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas rejected 14 separate arguments by Choctaw’s legal team seeking to reverse the jury’s findings. The appellate ruling found that Choctaw was vicariously liable for the negligence of the charter bus company, the bus driver and for a tour guide who had arranged the April 2013 casino trip. According to testimony, the crash occurred when the bus driver lost control of the bus on the northbound lanes of State Highway 161 in Irving as he was arguing with the tour organizer.
Trial lawyers from The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson were lead trial counsel in this case and represented the estate and family members of 82-year-old Alice Stanley, the lead plaintiff. Attorneys Frank L. Branson and Chip Brooker of The Law Offices of Frank L. Branson successfully argued that the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma had a contractual relationship with the tour organizer and the charter bus operator and the tour, Cardinal Coach Lines. The jury awarded $4.9 million to Ms. Stanley’s estate and $6 million to the estate of 69-year-old Paula Hahn, who was represented by separate legal counsel.
