(The following story by Paul Levy appeared on the Minneapolis Star Tribune website on September 16, 2010.)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The families of four young people killed in 2003 when their car and a train collided in Anoka decided Thursday night to take their case against Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
“Now that we’ve loaded the bases, we might as well knock it out of the park,” said Dave Shannon, father of one of the victims.
Two years ago, an Anoka County jury awarded $21.6 million to the families. Then, last October, Washington County Judge Ellen Maas handed out $4.2 million in sanctions against the railroad, saying it had abused the legal process.
On Tuesday, ruling on an appeal by BNSF, the Minnesota Court of Appeals said the case must be retried because of jury instructions that allowed jurors to use the wrong standard in holding the railroad liable. The majority said jurors should have been told to use federal law to determine negligence.
However, the court upheld Maas’ findings from last October, when she said the railroad engaged in a “staggering” pattern of misconduct to cover up the cause of the tragic accident, and left in place the sanctions and jury damages pending the outcome of a new trial.
Killed in the crash were Brian Frazier, 20, of Ham Lake; Bridgette Shannon, 17, of Ramsey; Corey Chase, 20, of Coon Rapids; and Harry Rhoades Jr., 19, of Blaine.
Members of the families met at the home of Dave and Denise Shannon, Bridgette’s parents, with their lawyers Thursday night. Faced with deciding between petitioning the Supreme Court or retrying the case in Anoka County, the families opted for the state’s highest court.
Both sides have 30 days to ask the Supreme Court to review the decision. The court takes less than 8 percent of the cases it is asked to review.
In a statement issued Thursday night, BNSF said “We respect the families’ rights to avail themselves of the judicial process, but BNSF continues to believe that the great weight of the evidence shows that we did not cause this tragic accident. We are hopeful that a fair trial based on all of the facts, including important eyewitnesses, will bring closure for all involved. As we evaluate our options at the Minnesota Supreme Court, BNSF will take all necessary steps to ensure a fair and impartial trial for all parties, where all of the facts and truth are presented to the jury.”