Jury makes decision in officer’s wrongful death suit; amount may be reduced

Jurors in the two-week long wrongful death lawsuit of an El Paso Police Officer made a decision Monday, handing down a potential award of just under $2.3 million, instead of the $30 million his parents were seeking.

In December of 2012, 27-year-old officer Angel Garcia was struck and killed in a chain reaction crash while removing a ladder from the middle of Interstate 10.

The suit alleged Harvey Richard Hall, who was driving an Old Dominion Freight Line semi-truck, caused the chain-reaction crash that led to Officer Garcia’s death.

The jury calculated damages just short of $2.3 million dollars, but they also decided Garcia and Hall were equally negligent.

Nobody connected with the case is willing to speak on the record, but ABC-7 believes it means — since Hall was determined to be only 50-percent at fault — the family would receive half of $2.3 million.

Texas law states that “the court shall reduce the amount of damages to be recovered … by a percentage equal to the claimant’s percentage of responsibility” or 50-percent in this case.

ABC-7 continues to check with sources in the legal community to be sure that applies to this case.

The Garcia family attorney, Ray Gutierrez, alleged Hall was fully to blame for the officer’s death two and a half years ago on I-10 near Hawkins and that $30 million was warranted.

During closing arguments, the defense told the jury that Hall had no way of avoiding the sudden stop and that the sun made it hard for him see. They say he had no time to slow down.

Garcia’s parents, Miguel Angel Garcia and Elsa Silex Garcia, both appeared emotional and disappointed in the courtroom immediately after the jury handed down its decision.

They declined comment when asked, as did their attorney.

The decision could be appealed. ABC-7 made calls to Old Dominion Freight Lines and the defense attorney, but as of deadline, they have not called me back.