WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

May 2
Phillip M. & Rebecca Edenton vs. Brian D. Bryant
PA- Keith B. Walker; J- William S. Thompson
* Phillip Edenton seeks jury judgment blaming the Alexandria, Va., defendant for a June 2009 head-on collision with his motorcycle on the Little Coal River Trail System in Boone County. Bryant is accused of running his ATV into the bike on a curve along the Hatfield-McCoy Trails. Claiming severe, significant and debilitating physical injuries, as well as emotional distress, the Bumpass, Va., couple wants compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, litigation expenses, and such other relief deemed just and proper by the jury.
Case number: 11-C-90

May 6
Timothy Bevel vs. Patriot Coal Corp., Douglas M. Epling and Mountain Edge Mining
PA- Robert B. Warner, Tammy Bowles J- William S. Thompson
* Bevel's personal injury suit demands, among several things, jury awards of compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney's fees and court expenses, plus punitive damages against Epling and Patriot Coal. Employed as a laborer by Mountain Edge at the Coalburg No. 1 Mine near Whitesville, Bevel says he was instructed "to stand at an elevated height on top of the canopy of a moving hauler along with a co-worker to hammer and tighten rollers into place using a sledge hammer and hand tools while within close proximity to each other, and without the use of any fall protection." Complaint says his May 2009 assignment resulted in being "struck in the head with the coworker's sledge hammer." Bevel says he fell to the ground unconscious and it took some 45 minutes to evacuate him by flight to intensive care in a Charleston hospital. According to the complaint, Bevel had serious head and neck injuries that included skull fracture and traumatic brain injury. Defendant Epling had operational control at the mine, complaint says, and Patriot Coal was the owner in Boone County.
Case number: 11-C-94