Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

Last week, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $3.1 million award against the US government for the wrongful death of a Massachusetts fisherman who was murdered in Boston by Winter Hill gang leaders Stephen Flemmi and James “Whitey” Bulger after an FBI agent leaked information to them. John McIntyre was murdered in 1984.

The US government has argued that ex-FBI agent John Connolly was a “rogue” agent who acted outside the scope of his job when he ignored the criminal activities of Bulger and Flemmi, who were his informants. The 1st Circuit Court, however, says that even though Connolly’s actions were illegal and went against FBI policy, they did fall within the scope of his job because the government allowed what it knew (or should have known) was going on for “the greater good of bringing down La Cosa Nostra.”

The court said that McIntyre’s wrongful death occurred because of the FBI’s attitude. McIntyre, also a government informant, was tortured to death after Connolly told the two gang leaders that the fisherman was going to implicate them over their involvement in an Irish Republican Army arms-smuggling ring.

In Massachusetts, a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Plymouth County Superior Court alleges that the doctors of the woman who accidentally drove her car into Brockton Hospital last year are also responsible for her husband’s wrongful death. Kathleen Vasa is suing Compass Medical, Dr. George Clairmont, Dr. Michelle Beaupre, Dr. Ersan Yalcin, and Dr. Jonathan Ellis for the death of her husband, Dr. Mark Vasa.

Vasa and another victim were killed last year after the vehicle driven by patient Jane Berghold crashed into the hospital. Berghold was a breast cancer patient who was being treated at the hospital.

Local police say the 77-year-old woman stepped on the gas pedal when she meant to step on the brake while parking her car. Instead of stopping her car, she drove her vehicle through the hospital’s radiation department. Vasa was the chief of radiation therapy at the hospital.

The Massachusetts family of Visar Luzha, a 19-year-old teenager who died in a chimney collapse accident at a party in 2005, is suing the party host for wrongful death. The plaintiffs, who are seeking $3 million in damages on behalf of Luzha’s estate, filed their lawsuit in Salem Superior Court in August.

The fatal freak accident occurred at a house party in Beverly on August 19, 2005. Luzha, an immigrant from Kosovo, was sitting in a hammock that was hanging between a chimney and a tree. The chimney gave way, causing cinder blocks to fall onto Luzha and hit him on the head. He died from his injuries.

The lawsuit contends that Rachel Halupowki invited people to the home but did not obtain permission from the property owners to have the party guests over. The plaintiff says that Halupowski, now 21, had a duty to protect her guests and she failed in that duty when she did not warn Luzha that it might not be safe to sit in the hammock.