News Article

Attorney Buys Roller Coaster to Preserve Evidence
in Amusement Park Suit
By Bob Katz, Lawyers Weekly Inc.

When the initial mediation session in an amusement park injury case appeared deadlocked, plaintiff's attorney Howard Spiva of Savannah, Ga., had all the advantages of a college student with an advance copy of the exam questions.

Spiva was already engaged in a lawsuit against the same amusement park owner -- a case that involved an earlier accident in the same seat of the same car of the same ride coming around the same curve at Tybee Island Amusement Park in Tybee Island, Ga.

"When [the defendant] said they weren't going to pay a thing, we were ready to file our suit within an hour," says Spiva, who went on to negotiate a $790,000 settlement in the case.

"We knew who all the parties were," he says. "We knew the owner and the employees. We had deposed them and were ready to depose them again."

On July 3, 1998, 52-year-old Camille Lloyd was thrown out of the Little Dipper Roller Coaster as it rounded a curve. Spiva contends that she struck her head on the A-frame scaffolding that supports the roller coaster, then got her leg tangled in the roller coaster's lap bar and was dragged 80 feet to the end of the ride, sustaining additional injuries to her head.

Bystanders found Lloyd face down and bleeding. She appeared to be unconscious for several minutes. After receiving emergency treatment, some of which was videotaped by a local TV news crew that was filming a holiday weekend report at the park, a medical helicopter flew Lloyd to a hospital in nearby Savannah.

One month earlier, Spiva had filed suit against amusement park owner Robert Gene Glisson on behalf of a 7-year-old girl who also fell from the Little Dipper and sustained a skull fracture that required brain surgery to remove a blood clot. While preparing that case, which was eventually settled for an undisclosed sum, Spiva learned the habits of fixed-location amusement parks and, perhaps more important, how parks defend themselves against damage claims.

"First," says Spiva, "they say the roller coaster didn't cause the injury. Then, they say, if it did, the injury isn't very bad. Then, if the injury is bad, they claim it was due to a pre-existing condition. Finally, they say that the injury was ultimately caused by the reckless or negligent behavior of the victim."

Defense attorney Peter Muller declined to be interviewed. But Spiva says the defense planned to argue that the plaintiff was intoxicated at the time, that her injuries were minimal and she suffered no lasting damage. In the case of the 7-year-old girl, Spiva said the park owner contended the girl was standing up in the car in an inappropriate manner and had jumped out of the roller coaster when she became frightened.

The defense planned to make a similar argument with Lloyd, contending that she was inappropriately hanging out of the car, waving to friends -- and this was why she struck her head on the coaster's A-frame support. Spiva says the defense had a stronger case with Lloyd because they had an emergency room doctor who was prepared to testify that she appeared intoxicated when she arrived at the hospital.

They intended to argue that her dazed condition after the accident was not caused by her head injury, but rather by her drunkenness, says Spiva.

The defense also had evidence of past drug use, which included one incident in which her roommate took her to the emergency room believing she had tried to kill herself with painkillers. Spiva contended she had taken only legitimate painkillers and that the ER staff did not consider it a suicide attempt.

As for the day of the accident, Spiva was prepared to argue his client was not drunk and that, even if she was, the park sold beer and thus had a duty to prevent patrons from boarding rides if they were intoxicated. He also says the defense had no evidence Lloyd did anything reckless while riding in the car.

But there was another significant obstacle for the plaintiff. Lloyd's more severe head injuries had been effectively treated with medication, leaving her with no lasting, provable injury, says Spiva. As a result, damages would depend on the murky area of partial brain damage.

Spiva enlisted expert witnesses to testify that the accident caused short-term memory loss and depression.

"Trying a brain injury case is like trying a whiplash case," says Spiva. "They're hard to prove."

Buying the Ride In September 1998, the amusement park closed to make way for a Super 8 Motel. Since the corporation that owned the park was dissolved, the park's $1 million insurance policy was now the maximum award Spiva could expect to collect.

The closing of the amusement park also presented another obstacle. The park planned to dismantle several rides including the Ferris wheel, the carousel, and others, and hold an auction to sell off everything. Spiva showed up, determined to be the high bidder on a key piece of evidence, the Little Dipper.

"If you want to show the other side you're serious," quips Spiva, "buy the roller coaster."

Having the roller coaster, Spiva felt, would help rebut the defense contention that the ride was relatively small and safe.

Asked why the defendant would willfully sell him a potentially useful piece of evidence, Spiva said it was an "absolute auction" and by showing up at the informal affair in business suits with several associates, he made it clear that nobody was going to outbid him. It cost several thousand dollars, but helped obtain the desired results.

On Friday Aug. 4, 2000, a month before the scheduled trial date, Spiva, Muller and the adjustor for the park's insurance company held a daylong telephone negotiation. Both sides had already spent considerable resources in preparation, and were faced in the coming weeks with a host of out-of-town depositions.

At one point, the defense said they would never pay as much as $800,000.

"I said get me a check for $790,000 and we're done," says Spiva.

The check arrived on Monday.

Plaintiff's Attorney: Howard E. Spiva of Spiva & Lewis in Savannah, Ga.

Defendant's Attorney: Peter D. Muller of Bouhan Williams & Levy in Savannah, Ga.

The case: Camille Lloyd vs. Robert Gene Grisson and Tybee Island Amusement Park, Inc. State Court of Chatham County, Ga. Case no. 199-2894G.

© 2000 Lawyers Weekly Inc., All Rights Reserved.

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