 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Pfau v. Comair Holdings12/29/2000
2000 Opinion No. 143
Boise, November 2000 Term
Frederick C. Lyon, Clerk
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, the Hon. John Feikens presiding, certified a question to the Idaho Supreme Court.
A question of law was certified to the Idaho Supreme Court. The Court held I.C. § 5-311 does not provide for economic damages in the form of loss of inheritance, loss of net accumulation and/or loss of earnings.
This case presents a certified question from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan regarding whether the scope of wrongful death damages under Idaho law goes beyond loss of support damages to include loss of inheritance, loss of net accumulation and/or loss of earnings.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Roy and Verna Marie Raymond were killed in a plane crash in Monroe County, Michigan en route to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on January 9, 1997. This is a wrongful death action brought on behalf of their heirs ("the heirs") against Comair, the airline with whom Roy and Verna Marie Raymond were traveling at the time of their deaths, Delta, a part owner and associated airlines with Comair, and Empresa Brasilerira de Aeronautica, S.A. d/b/a Embraer, the manufacturer of the EMB-120 that crashed. The suit was originally brought in the 11 th Circuit Court, Dade County, Florida. The case was transferred pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) to the U.S. District court for the Eastern District of Michigan. This case comes before the Court on the Court's acceptance of a certified question. The question was certified by Hon. John Feikens of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division on March 6, 2000. This Court issued an Order on May 16, 2000, accepting Certification of one issue.
II. CERTIFIED QUESTION
Under Idaho's Wrongful Death Act and all related case and statutory law, are economic damages limited to the loss of support received or reasonably anticipated during the life of the decedent, or do they also include damages for the loss of anticipated inheritance the claimants may have received after the natural death of the decedent, and/or the loss of the net accumulation of the decedent, and/or loss of earnings of the decedent?
III. STANDARD OF REVIEW
United States courts may submit to the Idaho Supreme Court a certified question of law as to which there is no controlling precedent among the decisions of the Court. I.A.R. 12.1. Here, the certified question turns upon interpretation of I.C. § 5-311. This is a question of law over which the Court exercises free review. See Adamson v. Blanchard, 133 Idaho 602, 990 P.2d 1213 (1999); State v. Hagerman Water Right Owners, Inc., 130 Idaho 727, 732, 947 P.2d 400, 405 (1997).
IV. DISCUSSION
The heirs of Roy and Verna Raymond urge this Court to extend Idaho's Wrongful Death Statute to allow damages for loss of anticipated inheritance, and/or loss of net accumulation, and/or loss of earnings of the decedent. These three theories of damages are generally a measure of the present value of the future additions the decedent would have made to the estate had he or she not died prematurely. Whether damages for anticipated inheritance, net accumulation, or loss of earnings should be allowed under I.C. §5-311 is a case of first impression in Idaho.
Idaho Code §5-311 provides:
1) When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another, his or her heirs or personal representatives on their behalf may maintain an action for damages against the person c
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Idaho Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|