JURY TO RESUME DELIBERATIONS
Jun 22, 2003
By Todd Kleffman
Montgomery Advertiser
Jurors will resume their deliberations on Monday in a medical malpractice
lawsuit filed after the death of a teenage girl following routine surgery
to correct an overbite.
Jurors heard two weeks of testimony in the suit filed against Montgomery
anesthesiologist Dr. William Ware and nurse Lil Hayes about the 1998 death
of Brandi Timmons, 17. The trial phase ended Friday afternoon, and jurors
deliberated about two hours before being dismissed for the weekend.
In his closing arguments Friday, plaintiff's attorney Buddy Brown
of Mobile asked the jury to award a $20 million verdict against Ware,
Hayes and their employer, Anesthesiology and Pain Management of Montgomery.
"Brandi was young, healthy, vibrant, perfect in every way until this
25-minute period where they dropped the ball," Brown told jurors.
Brown said Ware and Hayes, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, made
several crucial mistakes while treating Timmons -- who attended Sidney
Lanier High School -- which led to her December 1998 death.
They gave her too strong a dose of anesthetics, which caused her breathing
to slow; waited too long to assist her when she began having breathing
problems; gave her the wrong medicine after they realized she was in trouble;
and failed to shock her with a defibrillator device when she was in crisis,
Brown told jurors.
However, defense attorney Billy Bates said Timmons' death remains
a mystery, Ware and Hayes acted appropriately and they tried to save her.
Timmons was "looking like every normal patient does after an operation
like this" until she unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest, Bates
told jurors in his closing statement.
"We all want to know what caused this tragedy, but we're not
going to know here," said Don Jones, another defense attorney. "Lil
and Dr. Ware did all they could. They used all the knowledge they had."
Timmons' mother, Johnnie Timmons, and several other family members
have attended the trial, but declined to comment.
Lawyers for both sides also declined to discuss the case beyond their
courtroom statements until the jury reaches its verdict.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Charles Price is presiding over
the case, which began June 9.