Estate of crash victim to get money from case

One more legal matter remains pending in the case.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The money won in court by the estate of Mark Simpson, one of two men who died in a collision with a Niles police car in 1996, is finally being distributed to family members.
An entry filed in Trumbull County Probate Court on Tuesday by Magistrate Deborah E. Marik lists the amounts to be disbursed from the $792,500 settlement reached with the city of Niles:
Atty. Patrick A. Fire of Boardman, to be split 75/25 with Atty. Michael Morley, $317,000.
Five family members each receive $89,407. They are Simpson's mother, Patricia Shavelin of Warren; his father, Don Simpson of Geneva; brothers Kenneth of Boardman and James of Central City, Colo; and a sister, Diana Oakes of Warren.
About the case
Kenneth Simpson was killed in a collision with the patrol car of Niles Police Chief Bruce Simeone. Simpson was 30 years old and from Howland at the time. Simeone was a captain at the time.
Simpson's estate won a case last April in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against the city. Jurors determined then that the family was entitled to $823,000 as damages. That amount was reduced in January in an out-of-court settlement.
Simeone was responding to a hostage situation at Ponderosa Restaurant on U.S. Route 422 when his cruiser collided with Simpson's Corvette, which was pulling from a parking lot on Route 422 a short distance from the restaurant.
A grand jury previously found no criminal wrongdoing by the chief.
Also killed in the accident was Bronsel Cain Jr., 29, whose family reached an undisclosed settlement with the city of Niles in April 2005.
Still pending is a separate lawsuit pertaining to prejudgment interest. The family has sued the city for an additional $1 million for interest on the judgment. Law allows for prejudgment interest dating back to the time of an accident in cases where the party required to pay the money failed to make a good-faith effort to settle the case, according to the lawsuit.
runyan@vindy.com