May 2010 Archives

Eight hours into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill "top kill" operation, a BP official said Wednesday night that it was too soon to tell if it would work. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said he expected to know if the plan was working within 24 hours. “Top kill,” which has been described as one of the most elaborately staged and far-reaching maneuvers to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, was put into action at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Engineering expert Manhar Dhanak of the Institute for Ocean and Systems Engineering in Boca Raton, Fla., was concerned about the state of the blowout preventer. If it is damaged, the rate of oil could greatly increase. “Rather than helping, it could create more problems,” Mr. Dhanak says.

For more, see csmonitor.com.

Susan Lukjan is the St. Matthews, KY, business owner accused of burning down her own business allegedly to collect the insurance money.  On Thursday, her defense attorney, Thomas Clay, challenged Major Henry Ott's ruling of incendiary fire, meaning the fire was intentionally set, and said there was no accelerant found.  The fire cause and origin expert witness is with the Louisville Fire Department's arson unit. 

Clay accused Ott of "expectation bias" in relation to his client's motives to start the fire, meaning he formed his opinion before all the evidence came in.

Read more: wlky.com.

Accident reconstruction expert Bruce Enz testified for the prosecution in the Greene County trial of Jeff Adams saying his investigation indicated Jerry Marker was going the speed limit, 40 mph, when his motorcycle was hit by Preston Williams' black Camaro in a "dead-on, head-on" crash on May 9, 2009. Enz's experience spans 32 years in the field of accident reconstruction and investigation.  Enz said, by his determination, the calculated speed of the Camaro was within a range of 75-80 mph at the time of impact.

Adams is on trial for two counts of aiding in reckless homicide, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and reckless driving. He is accused of driving a Toyota Supra on State Road 54 on May 9, 2009, and racing with Preston Williams who was driving a black Camaro with Jessica Allman on board.

For more, see gcdailyworld. 

In Pennsylvania, a medical expert's opinion that a worker has fully recovered can be based on sufficient evidence even if the expert has not personally physical examined the worker.

Case name: Stancell v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (LKI Group, LLC), No. 1901 C.D. 2009 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 03/10/10).

Ruling: The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed the grant of the employer's termination petition.

What it means: In Pennsylvania, an employer seeking to terminate benefits has the burden of presenting competent medical testimony that the worker has fully recovered. A medical expert's opinion that a worker has fully recovered can be based on sufficient evidence even if the expert has not personally physical examined the worker.

For more, see risk&insurance.com.