On Point - A New Take On Legal News

Motorist Cleared of Liability for Crash Victim's Abortion

The Illinois Supreme Court has thrown out the case of “the million-dollar fetus,” ruling that the state's wrongful-death law does not apply to a fetus voluntarily aborted after the mother was involved in a traffic collision.

“[T]he record does not establish the threshold requirement under the Wrongful Death Act that Baby Doe, prior to death, had a present injury such that the fetus could have maintained a cause of action against defendant,” the court said in granting summary dismissal of Michelle Williams's claim against the driver who collided with her.

Williams sued John Manchester for $1 million in damages even though her unborn child suffered no injury as a result of his allegedly negligent driving. She chose to have an abortion after doctors told her she might not be able to maintain the pregnancy because of the pelvic injury she sustained in the accident.

A 2-1 majority of the First District Appellate Court said the case could proceed, finding in March 2007 that “under certain circumstances voluntary abortions are foreseeable as a result of the conduct of the underlying tortfeasor.”

But the Supreme Court agreed with the dissenting judge that Williams's abortion was not one of those circumstances since the fetus had not suffered an “actionable injury ... that could have been maintained had death not intervened.”

“[A] wrongful-death action is premised on the deceased’s potential, at the time of death, to bring an action for injury,” Justice Charles E. Freeman wrote for the court, and

The evidence of record discloses that Baby Doe could not have maintained a claim for personal injury against defendant based on the automobile collision itself. Williams v. Manchester.

The appellate court majority identified the “actionable injury” as the death of the fetus, but Manchester argued that its decision, if upheld, would have “the effect of encouraging the choice to abort, as it creates an opportunity to recover for the death of the fetus. This recovery cannot occur if the mother carries the fetus to term.”

Williams, who was three months pregnant, was a passenger in a car that struck Manchester's vehicle at a Chicago intersection in October 2002. While the fetus was unharmed, she was hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and hip and had surgery to repair her pelvis following the abortion.

A radiologist testified that the fetus suffered an increased risk of neurological deformity because of radiation exposure from a CAT scan and pelvic X-ray performed on Williams. But Freeman said “an increased risk of future harm is an element of damages that can be recovered for a present injury -- it is not the injury itself.”

Illinois has a particularly generous view of “fetal rights,” being the only state in the nation which allows claims for the death of a nonviable fetus.

By Matthew Heller
4/18/08

Jail Officials Say Not Liable for Inmate's Escape Injuries

A Pueblo County, Colo., jail inmate injured during an escape attempt cannot sue officials for failing to ensure the jail was secure, the county argues in a motion for summary judgment.

The motion notes that under Colorado law, damages are not recoverable for injuries "sustained during the commission of or during immediate flight from an act that is defined by any law of this state or the United States to be a felony." Escaping from confinement is a felony and, therefore, Scott Gomez has no claim for negligence.

Gomez alleged in a complaint filed in January that jail officials failed in their "duty to maintain the Jail, so that it was secure and inmates could not readily escape." While attempting to climb down the outside wall of the jail, he fell 40 feet, striking the pavement below.

4/18/08