$24 Million Verdict for Four Families After Fatal Anoka Crossing Crash
Won by Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben, P.A..
A six-week Anoka County trial ended with a $24 million jury verdict against BNSF Railway after four young people died at a malfunctioning Ferry Street grade crossing in September 2003.
What happened
On the night of September 26, 2003, a Chevrolet Cavalier carrying four passengers was struck by a BNSF freight train at the Ferry Street railroad crossing in Anoka, Minnesota. All four occupants died at the scene: Brian Frazier, 20; Corey Chase, 20; Harry Rhoades Jr., 19; and Bridgette Shannon, 17.
The central dispute at trial was whether the crossing's warning devices were working. BNSF maintained the driver went around fully lowered crossing gates. The families, represented by Paul Godlewski of Schwebel, Goetz and Sieben together with co-counsel from several other firms, presented evidence that the crossing arms had malfunctioned and that prior signal failures at the same location had gone unaddressed.
The trial ran six weeks before Anoka County District Court Judge Ellen Maas. The jury sided with the families, finding BNSF 90% liable for the collision and the driver 10% at fault. Jurors awarded $6 million to each of the four families, totaling $24 million. The district court denied BNSF's post-trial motions for a new trial and judgment as a matter of law.
BNSF appealed, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed, granting BNSF a new trial on the ground that the jury instructions on standard of care were erroneous. The families appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which reversed the Court of Appeals in March 2012. The Supreme Court held that even if the instructions contained error, it did not affect the fairness or integrity of the proceedings, and it reinstated the district court's ruling denying a new trial.
The verdicts stood without remittitur. The Frazier estate's award was reduced by 10% to reflect the jury's comparative-fault finding against the driver; the other three estates received their $6 million awards in full.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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