The Powell Law Group - Personal Injury, Corporate & Municipal Law

Jury awards $1.7 million in case
of 3-year-old girl killed by car
by David Weiss, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader

Judith McGuinness, 74, ruled negligent when she struck and killed Joann Torres in 1997 in Hazleton.

WILKES-BARRE - Jurors late Monday evening awarded $1.7 million to the mother of a 3-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a car in 1997.

After deliberating about six hours, the Luzerne County jury ruled that Judith McGuinness, 74, of Butter Township, was negligent when she struck and killed Joann Torres at Church and Fern streets in Hazleton.

Maruja Arce, mother of Joann Torres, filed suit against McGuinness, claiming she was negligent by driving while visually impaired and with no headlights when she struck and killed the girl.

In closing arguments Monday, attorney Robert Powell, who is representing Arce, said McGuinness knew she was visually impaired and should not have been driving at night. The fatality occurred at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 16, 1997.

The accident also could have been prevented if McGuinness, who is legally blind in one eye, would have seen an eye doctor within the last three years, Powell said.

"(McGuinness) had an opportunity to prevent this accident by not driving at night but she failed to do that. That's our burden. We met it," Powell said.

The jury began deliberations about 5 p.m. Monday and reached a verdict around 10:45 p.m. The breakdown of the award could not be determined at press time.

Powell and attorney Neil O'Donnell, who is defending Arce in a countersuit by McGuinness, told Jurors that doctors' records show McGuinness knew her eyesight was a problem. One of the records stated McGuinness said, "driving is more difficult now..."

Powell also said that if McGuinness had good eyesight she would have taken an eye examination during trial to prove it.

Powell suggested that McGuinness won't take an eye examination because she is afraid that she will lose her driving privileges because of the results.

"She's gambled and she continues to gamble," O'Donnell said.

McGuinness' attorney, Thomas Comerford, argued that Arce's attorneys' portrayal of his client were false. He also said that since the crash occurred just one step after the girl stepped off the curb, there was nothing McGuinness could have done to avoid the accident.

Arce sued seeking damages from McGuinness for the accident. McGuinness later filed suit against Arce. Details of McGuinness' suit were not known Monday.

O'Donnell and Powell told jurors the McGuinness suit was a "ploy' to put a lot of psychological stress on Arce.

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