Great Plains Trucking, Inc. and Lennis H. Beck Missouri Cases

Carrie S. Schultz and Robert C. Schultz, Sr., parents of Robert C. Schultz, Jr., brought a wrongful death action against Great Plains Trucking, Inc. and Lennis H. Beck after their son died in a collision with Beck's truck. A jury awarded the plaintiffs compensatory and aggravating circumstances damages. On appeal, defendants challenged the exclusion of expert testimony, the participation of separate counsel, the submission of a jury instruction on careful lookout, and the sufficiency of evidence for aggravating circumstances damages. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, finding that defendants either failed to preserve their claims of error or that their preserved claims lacked merit.

Carrie S. Schultz and Robert C. Schultz, Sr., parents of the deceased Robert C. Schultz, Jr., brought a wrongful death action against Great Plains Trucking, Inc. and its driver, Lennis H. Beck, following a fatal vehicular crash. After a jury trial awarded the plaintiffs compensatory and aggravating circumstances damages, the defendants appealed. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no error in the exclusion of expert testimony, the allowance of separate counsel, the jury instructions, or the submission of aggravating circumstances damages.