A Madison County, Miss., jury awarded $4.5 million to a woman who was shot in the arm after an accident at a fast food restaurant in Ridgeland, Miss.
The jury on Tuesday found Vicksburg attorney Thomas Randy Clark liable for the injuries suffered by Susan Wiltshire. Clark was sentenced in 2006 to 18 years in prison for the shooting.
Wiltshire initially sued Clark’s business insurer, Nationwide.
The insurance company was successful in getting its portion of the case transferred to federal court. In November, U.S. District Judge Dan Jordan threw out the case against Nationwide, saying the vehicle Clark and his companion, Jackson lawyer Judith Kristie Smith, had just purchased that day wasn’t part of the business.
Wiltshire has appealed that decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Clark shot into Wiltshire’s car following a fender bender May 22, 2005, at a Krystal restaurant, according to authorities.
Clark pleaded guilty to one count of drive-by shooting and two counts of aggravated assault.
Smith pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to a drive-by shooting. Smith was sentenced in 2006 to a year of house arrest and four years’ probation.
“We had taken the position that he negligently discharged the gun,” said Wiltshire’s attorney, Dale Danks Jr.
Percy Stanfield Jr., Clark’s attorney in the criminal case who sat with him during the civil case, said the civil lawsuit won’t affect his client.
“My client is in prison,” Stanfield said. “He isn’t going to pay a dime.”
Information from: The Clarion-Ledger,
http://www.clarionledger.com
Topics Mississippi
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