One of the jurors who awarded a New Hampshire man $38 million in a landmark lawsuit over abuse at the state’s youth detention center says the state is misinterpreting the verdict by capping the payment at $475,000.
We wrote on our verdict form that there was 1 incident/injury, being complex PTSD, from the result of 100+ injuries ,' the juror wrote, according to court documents filed Sunday by Meehan's attorneys. 'We were never informed of a cap being placed per incident of abuse and that is wrong how the question was worded to us. 'The state is making their own interpretation of the ruling that we made, and that is not right for them to assume our position,' the juror wrote.
In their motion, Meehan’s attorneys said the juror's email statement and others sent by the jury foreperson confirm that jurors misunderstood the verdict form. The attorneys said that the finding of only one proven 'incident' is 'conclusively against the weight of the evidence' and logically inconsistent with the damages awarded. In such circumstances, the court 'not only has broad discretion, but is in fact duty-bound to take corrective action,' they wrote.
Meehan, 42, went to police in 2017 and sued the state three years later. Since then, 11 former state workers have been arrested and more than 1,100 other former residents of the Youth Development Center have filed lawsuits alleging physical, sexual and emotional abuse spanning six decades. Meehan’s lawsuit was the first to go to trial.
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