By: dmc-admin//July 19, 2010//
Patron shot by convicted felon
PERSONAL INJURY: $1.73 million Verdict
Case name: Wright v. Edwards, et al.
Case number: 08-CV-5171
Court: Milwaukee County Circuit Court
Judge: Charles F. Kahn, Jr.
Verdict amount: $1.73 million
Date of incident: Nov. 18, 2005
Injuries claimed: Plaintiff was shot in the right chest, with the bullet passing through his body and exiting out his back.
Verdict & Settlement: Bench verdict for plaintiff
Award: $1,730,089
Date of incident: Nov. 18, 2005
Disposition date: June 24, 2010
Plaintiff’s attorneys: Charles J. Hausmann and Michael J. Donovan, Hausmann-McNally Law Offices, S.C., Milwaukee
Defendant’s attorneys: Joe Neterval, Non-Profit Legal Services of Southeast Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Plaintiff counsel's summary of the case: This case questions whether a bouncer, who was a convicted felon, acted with intentional disregard of the rights of the plaintiff when he attempted to interrupt a verbal parking lot argument by firing a rifle at the patrons, causing serious gun shot injury to the plaintiff.
On Nov. 18, 2005, Youantis Wright and some friends went to Remedies Bar & Grill. At closing time, there was an argument in the parking lot. Wright, who knew people on both sides of the argument, attempted to mediate. As the argument continued, Decosta Edwards, the bar’s bouncer, brought a semi-automatic rifle out from the bar. As a convicted felon, Edwards was not allowed to own a gun. Edwards fired several shots in the air. When the crowd didn’t disperse, he fired several shots into the crowd, one of which struck Wright in the chest.