First Mesothelioma Court Trial To Begin Shortly
Madison County Circuit Judge Daniel Stack has begun picking a jury for the county’s first asbestos trial in more than a year. The victim Chester Black of Joplin, Mo., was diagnosed with mesothelioma early in 2006. He will be represented by Randy Gori of The Goldenberg firm in Edwardsville, filed suit earlier this year, seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $400,000.
Once the trial begins, Chester Black will try to prove he was exposed to and inhaled, ingested or otherwise absorbed large amounts of asbestos fibers emanating from products he was working with or around. If the case actually goes to trial, it is expected to last nearly two weeks. Jeff Hebrank of Edwardsville, represents the defendant, Georgia-Pacific, which was granted defense verdicts in the last two Madison County trials they were involved in.
Asbestos cases rarely go to trial. In Madison County they have normally settled out of court for millions of dollars. “The defendants knew of or should have known that the asbestos fibers contained in their products had a toxic, poisonous, and highly deleterious effect upon the health of people inhaling, ingesting, or otherwise absorbing them,” Black’s complaint states.
Black alleges the defendants are guilty of willful and wanton misconduct. He claims he has had to undergo costly medical treatment and that he suffers great physical pain and mental anguish as a result of his asbestos exposure. He alleges that Georgia-Pacific and John Crane included asbestos in their products even when adequate substitutes were available and failed to provide any or adequate instructions concerning the safe methods of working with and around asbestos.
Black also claims he was exposed to asbestos during non-occupational work projects including home and automotive repairs, maintenance and remodeling. Since Stack took over the asbestos docket in 2004, three asbestos cases filed by out-of-the-area plaintiffs have made it to trial in his courtroom.