Judge rules on distribution of proceeds from settlement

The family was recently awarded $2.1 million by the Ohio Court of Claims.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County Probate Court has ruled on the distribution of the $980,000 in proceeds from a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the family of an 18-year-old Warren man killed in an accident in 2001.
The estate of Joseph F. Robertson sued Bazetta Township over the accident in which Robertson was killed when an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper's vehicle collided with Robertson's vehicle at Elm and North River roads while the trooper was on a high-speed pursuit.
The two sides settled out of court after a trial in which Robertson's attorneys argued that Bazetta officer Nick G. Papalas acted in a willful, wanton or reckless manner by failing to protect Robertson from the oncoming trooper vehicle.
Papalas had left his security job at Wal-Mart a short distance away to help with the patrol's pursuit after he heard radio traffic about it on a portable scanner. Papalas pulled his cruiser beside Robertson's vehicle at the intersection and activated his lights.
But around the time the trooper's vehicle came through the intersection, Robertson pulled forward through the green light and the two vehicles collided, killing Robertson and injuring a passenger.
Amounts
Atty. Robert F. Linton was granted $235,000 of the settlement, and Atty. Janet McCamley received $156,800. An additional $115,342 was for the expenses of the attorneys. That leaves $472,656 to go to the family, including $250,508 to Robertson's father, John D.; $132,344 to the estate of his deceased mother, Joette; and $70,898 to his brother, Alex. An additional $18,906 is to go to Joseph Robertson's estate.
A separate lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Court of Claims against the OSHP, which resulted in a judgment earlier this month of $2,189,695 for the Robertsons, minus an amount to be determined later because of the Bazetta settlement. The state has appealed the Court of Claims ruling.
Linton said the $2.1 million verdict was the largest amount awarded in the Court of Claims.