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Court OK’s $14.9 million award in well explosion

September 23, 2008

A jury’s award of $14.9 million to the family of a man killed in a fiery explosion after he backed his vehicle into a gas well near Farmington was upheld Monday by the state Court of Appeals.

The court rejected arguments by Energen Resources Corp. that the jury’s award was excessive and therefore unconstitutional.

The Santa Fe jury determined after a six-day trial in 2006 that the oil and gas company was negligent and its conduct reckless in the death of John Everett Stapleton, 19.
Stapleton died on July 21, 2002, in an area popular with young people and off-road enthusiasts when he backed his car into an unfenced, unprotected natural gas wellhead. The wellhead exploded, and he burned to death.

His family was awarded $1.92 million in compensatory damages and $13 million in punitive damages.

Read Article Las Cruces Sun News

Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys </a

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