Marine families awarded more than $55M in fatal helicopter crash

Marine families awarded more than $55M in fatal helicopter crash

By Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

5:58 p.m. September 3, 2008

SAN DIEGO – A jury awarded more than $55 million Wednesday to the families of four Marines killed in 2004 when the helicopter they were flying in struck a utility tower on Camp Pendleton.

Jurors determined that San Diego Gas and Electric, which owned the tower, was negligent and that company executives acted with malice by not seeing that safety devices, such as lights or ball markers, were installed to prevent accidents.

SDG and E's negligence was a substantial factor in causing the Marines' deaths, the jury found.
Family members of Capt. Adam E. Miller, 29;
1st Lt. Michael S. Lawlor, 26;
Staff Sgt. Lori A. Privette, 27;
and Cpl. Joshua D. Harris, 21, had asked for unspecified damages in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed in July 2004, about six months after the deadly crash.
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