A woman who suffered severe brain injuries when she was struck by a car driven by a mentally ill criminal has agreed a settlement with the Department of Corrections worth $4.25m (over £2,714,800).
Kathie Larson, 52, was crossing the street in June 2008, when she was hit by a stolen car being driven by Aiyisha Gillespie, 30, who was at the time under supervision by the Department of Corrections (DOC) following an earlier conviction. Ms Larson was in hospital for six months and is still recuperating.
According to her injury lawyer, Darrell Cochran, the Department of Corrections knew that Ms Gillespie was mentally ill and they should have supervised her more carefully.
At the time of the crash, Ms Gillespie was being supervised by the DOC following being released from prison. She had previously been convicted of deliberately hitting a truck with her vehicle in 2006, and attempting to run down an unknown man in the street. She ended up striking three cars in the earlier incident although nobody was seriously hurt.
Ms Larson made a compensation claim against the DOC, and her lawsuit alleges that in the seventeen months in which the DOC was responsible for Ms. Gillespie, she violated the conditions of her release on many occasions, committed more crimes and that her mental health deteriorated to the point at which she became an unreasonable danger to the community.
Ms Gillespie has been diagnosed with a type of bipolar disorder which includes ‘psychotic symptoms’ according to Cochran. She has also undergone multiple mental health evaluations since the 2008 crash.
DOC Secretary Eldon Vail said that although his staff had been supervising Gillespie properly, he felt the case would have been hard to win before a jury because of the severity of Ms Larson’s injuries. He added that the DOC had not wanted to risk a higher payout by letting the jury decide.
Ms Gillespie was charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle and failure to remain at an injury accident in connection with Ms Larson’s case. The criminal trial has been delayed.
