An Atlanta judge has ordered a new trial in a widower’s 21-year quest to hold a taxi driver and city inspector responsible for the death of his wife in a crash on I-85, months after he won a $25.5 million verdict against a now-defunct cab company.
Ed Heller, whose wife Patricia Heller was decapitated in the January 2003 crash, can retry his negligence claims against the estate of deceased taxi driver Abdallah Adem, whose death came years after the crash, and inspector Greg Shepard, who worked at the time for the city of Atlanta.
Heller claimed that Adem drove his wife in a taxi with bald tires in the rain, the day after Shepard had given the white 1996 Ford Crown Victoria a pass in a mandatory city inspection. The vehicle lost traction and spun off the highway near the Hapeville exit and hit a tree. Patricia Heller, 51, was not wearing a seat belt. A health care consultant, she had just arrived in Atlanta and was heading downtown from the airport.
Credit: Court Records
Credit: Court Records
After decades of litigation that was prolonged in part by the Georgia Department of Transportation’s efforts to end claims against it, a jury cleared Adem’s estate and Shepard of liability on March 4. The jury awarded Heller $25.5 million against United Express Cab Co., Adem’s then-employer that was administratively dissolved in 2012. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2011, did not participate in the trial.
The DOT, accused of negligently designing a section of I-85 and allowing trees to grow too close to the roadway, publicly apologized to the Heller family in 2010 and settled the claims against it for $600,000. That happened during jury selection in an initial trial, which ended in a mistrial. The retrial was stalled by United Express’ bankruptcy.
After winning $25.5 million against United Express in March, Heller asked for a new trial against Adem’s estate and Shepard, claiming in large part that the verdict holding only the company liable was strongly against the weight of evidence in the case. Senior Fulton County Judge Jerry Baxter granted the new trial request on July 16.
Halier’s attorney, James H. Potts II, did not immediately respond to questions about the case. He said in a March news release that the verdict against United Express underscored “a grave breach of trust” and that the company’s fundamental obligation to safeguard taxi passengers, including Patricia Heller, was blatantly ignored.
The cab company failed to undertake its own inspection of Adem’s taxi that it was required to do before the city’s inspection, Heller alleged. He claimed Shepard then passed the vehicle despite the lack of a company inspection and its bald tires.
“Both of the taxi’s rear tires, which passed a city of Atlanta inspection less than 24 hours before the fatal crash, were bald,” Potts said in March. “The city’s inspection was a joke.”
Credit: Court Records
Credit: Court Records
Atlanta was freed from liability before the 2010 trial. By that time, Shepard had ceased working for the city.
Shepard had inspected taxis for the city since 1996, according to Heller. Shepard wrote “pass” on the inspection form for Adem’s taxi but did not check “yes” or “no” on any of the boxes, including the one marked “tires,” to indicate whether they were in proper condition, Heller claimed. He alleged that a log sheet from the day of the inspection shows Shepard inspected 17 or 18 taxis in a 90-minute period.
Joshua Millican, who represents Shepard in the case, said on the eve of the 2010 trial that Shepard had inspected Adem’s taxi the way he was trained to do so by the city. Millican declined to comment on the new trial ruling, citing a court order limiting public statements about the case. He said in an April court filing that the March trial was fair and the jury’s carefully considered verdict should stand.
Villard Bastien, the attorney for Adem’s estate, did not immediately respond to questions about the case. In court filings, Adem’s estate contended Patricia Heller’s death was “simply an accident” and Adem took reasonable care.
Adem pleaded guilty in August 2005 to a single count of vehicular homicide in the second degree, as part of an agreement with prosecutors. He was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to complete a defensive driving class. His arrest warrant stated the taxi’s rear tires had no tread.
Potts said in March the verdict against United Express is a step closer to justice, but “there’s work to be done still.”
“This family’s victory, forged from grit, love, and bravery, will drive change,” he said.
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