Jury Awards $5.1 Million in Death of Harris County Deputy Constable

PRLog (Press Release) – May 15, 2008 – HOUSTON – A jury in Houston has awarded $5.1 million to the family of a Harris County deputy constable who was killed by a drunk driver in February 2004.

The verdict follows three days of trial in the 269th Judicial District Court in Harris County.  The jury’s award includes $1.5 million in punitive damages.  

Frank Scott Claborn was working a late night detail for a construction company on the West Sam Houston Tollway when his police car was hit by a pickup truck driven by then-22-year-old Donald Lee Fincher.  Mr. Fincher, whose blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit, later pleaded guilty to a charge of intoxication manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Mr. Fincher is general manager of the Fincher Motor Company located in Houston and Tomball, Texas.

“Nothing will bring back Scott Claborn so that he can be with his wife and mom and his son,” says attorney Rob Ammons of the Ammons Law Firm in Houston, who represents the family in the civil case against Mr. Fincher.  “But the jury’s award sends a strong message that we can’t tolerate this sort of behavior, especially when it takes the life of a police officer.”

Mr. Ammons says the family reached a confidential settlement with Houston-based W.W. Webber, Inc., the construction company involved, prior to trial.  Assisting him and representing Mr. Claborn’s mother was attorney John Devine of Woodfill & Pressler LLP in Houston.

Mr. Ammons is an attorney with a national practice that focuses on the prosecution of automobile product liability cases, including vehicle rollovers, fuel-fed fires, crashworthiness cases, and tire failures.

More information is available at http://www.ammonslaw.com.

For more information on the $5.1 million verdict in the Claborn case, please contact Mark Annick at 800-559-4534, 214-213-1754 or mark@androvett.com