(The Associated Press circulated the following article by James Jefferson on October 13.)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to consider Union Pacific Railroad’s appeal of a $30 million damage award to a man partially paralyzed in a railroad crossing collision.
Without comment, justices declined to consider whether the $25 million punitive portion of the award to Christopher Barber was excessive.
In February, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision that the railroad company did not adequately clear brush near the eastern Arkansas railroad crossing despite being told several times the overgrowth obstructed motorists’ view of the tracks.
On Jan. 19, 1998, Barber, then 30, was partially paralyzed when a train collided with the garbage truck in which he was riding through the crossing. Charles Rolfe, 40, died in the accident.
The damage award in the case was believed to be the largest ever upheld by the state Supreme Court. When the railroad appealed to the high court, pro-business groups urged justices to consider it.
Barber’s lawyer, Robert L. Pottroff, said Tuesday’s decision was a victory both for his client and the people of Arkansas, a state he said is the most dangerous in the country for motorists negotiating railroad crossings.
“The people of Arkansas, through the jury system, were able to speak back,” Pottroff said.
Union Pacific representatives did not immediately comment.