David Ashenfelter reports that a Detroit jury cleared Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray of paying monetary damages related to assault charges following an incident in which he allegedly “threw” a chair at Rachel Paris during the 2009 playoffs.
Paris claimed that it was “no accident,” but the jury felt differently according to Ashenfelter’s report.
Jurors told the Free Press they wanted to award damages to Paris because they thought she was injured in the incident. But they said they couldn’t do that without first concluding that Murray had intentionally assaulted Paris. They said many of the jurors felt her injuries were the result of an accident, not an assault.
Paris’ current lawyers said that the case was handled poorly by her original lawyer.
They said he failed to include a negligence count in the lawsuit, which would have enabled the jury to award damages to Paris even if they disagreed about whether Murray assaulted her.
After the trial, Paris said that the injuries she suffered “wiped out” her life.
Paris said in court papers that her boss, fearful of losing his contract at the arena, fired her when she decided to pursue the case against Murray. She said she has been unable to find work since the incident. She didn’t have health insurance.
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