Florida Today
ROCKLEDGE --
While the money will never
replace the love and tenderness her mother would
have provided, the jury was instructed to use
certain formulas to determine things such as pain
and suffering and loss of parental guidance in
determining a total.
Kurt Bauer, who was out of town
at the time of the accident, said he hopes the
judgment can help put closure on the tragedy.
"It's been such a difficult
time," he said. "I certainly hope we can move on
now."
Bauer said his daughter has
recovered remarkably well and is amazed she is "just
like all the other kids her age."
"I couldn't be more pleased,"
he said. "She really enjoys playing with her
friends."
Her relatives were killed when
a tractor-trailer heading south on Interstate 95
near the Bee Line swerved to avoid a white car that
was coming onto the highway from the median.
The truck lost control and
crossed over to the northbound lanes, where it
slammed into a GMC Yukon. Hannah's grandparents,
Wilbur and Mary Vaughan, both 75, and her mom,
Shirley Bauer, 38, died at the scene.
Bauer's attorney, Charlie
Roberts of Rockledge, argued during the two-week
trial that truck driver Ezequiel Mata simply was not
paying attention.
"All he had to do was take his
foot off the gas when he saw the white car," Roberts
said. "We felt he was clearly negligent."
The jury assigned 60 percent of
the liability to the truck driver and 40 percent to
the white car, meaning Bauer likely will never
recover $2 million of the total amount.
"The system worked. The jury
did what was fair and reasonable and properly
assigned liability," Roberts said, adding he had
never won a verdict so big. "We're glad that now
Kurt and his family can get on the road to closure
on this."
Contact Torres at 242-3649 or
jtorres@flatoday.net
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Amount factors
The jury was instructed to use
certain formulas to determine things such as pain
and suffering and loss of parental guidance in
choosing a settlement.
