Woman's wrongful death suit ends in dismissal

More than four years after his death, the estate of Walter Jeremy Hayes' lawsuit for wrongful death has ended in a dismissal.

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Nevada Courthouse, Swischer Law Firm, representing Sandra Hayes, named representative of Hayes' estate, fought to continue a lawsuit filed in February 2007. The suit names Vernon County, Walker Township, Railamer-ica, Missouri Pacific Railroad, Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad, and the Union Pacific Corporation as defendants.

According to the complaint, the defendants were responsible for the wrongful death of Walter, who died in a car wreck on Aug. 14, 2003.

Walter, who was driving a 1999 Ford F250 northbound on County road 250 near Walker, veered off the east side of a railroad bridge and into a ditch.

The claim states that the bridge was narrow and poorly maintained, without any proper safety features such as guardrails; and the road leading to the bridge does not warn of or allow drivers to see the upcoming dangers.

Hayes' grievance claims the defendants were negligent and careless for several reasons including; allowing the bridge to fall into disrepair, not posting proper hazardous driving condition signs, and leaving the narrow bridge without guardrails.

Originally filed on Aug. 26, 2005, with the United States District Court, the claim was dismissed due to a lack of jurisdiction and refiled on Feb. 5, 2007, in a Missouri court in Jackson County. In June the case was moved to Vernon County by a change of venue to be heard by Judge James Bickel.

On Aug. 30, 2007 all of the defendants collectively argued that Missouri's statute of limitations only allowed three years to file a wrongful death complaint. This means Sandra only had until Aug. 14, 2006, to file her suit.

Hayes' attorney rebutted by saying, a one-year savings provision would apply to this case, which states that a plaintiff is allowed one additional year to file if an "innocent mistake" has been made in filing.

Judge Bickel overruled the motion to dismiss and allowed the case to continue.

On Sept. 24, Railamerica and Missouri & Northern Arkansas railroad filed a new motion to dismiss asking that the previous ruling be reconsidered.

On Oct. 12, Walker Township followed with its own motion to dismiss.

Judge Bickel again listened to arguments from attorneys representing both sides of the case, but drew a different conclusion from the proceedings.

According to Douglas Harpool, defending attorney for Vernon County, the original case only had the estate of Walter Hayes listed as a plaintiff.

Harpool said that an estate is not a valid plaintiff according to Missouri law and that by adding Sandra to the case, the petitioners altered the complaint enough to void their option of using a one-year savings.

Bickel paused the hearing to read over several pages of the court docket before announcing that the case was to be dismissed without prejudice, which means that the decision to dismiss could be appealed by the plaintiff.

Harpool said, "We understand the grief being shared by the family of the deceased and understand the loss they felt. We just recognize that certain losses can't be addressed with law suits."

Hayes' attorney. Nicholas Swischer, was not available for comment.