Baltimore City Circuit Court judge refuses to overturn lead paint

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Mar 31, 2008 by Christina Doran

A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge has refused to overturn a jury's finding that an 8-year-old boy had been poisoned by lead- based paint, but reduced the $6 million award to $605,000 due to Maryland's cap on non-economic damages.

The Jan. 22 verdict was awarded to Antonio Ross Jr., who claimed the paint conditions in his mother's Garden Village Apartments caused his lead poisoning and consequent loss of cognitive and motor skills.

On Thursday, Judge Albert J. Matricciani Jr. denied a motion filed by Garden Village Realty Corp. and property manager Regional Management Inc. seeking a new trial based on potential juror misconduct.

"My clients did not receive a fair trial under Maryland law, and there is no way to reconcile Judge Matricciani's ruling with established Maryland law," said Charles I. Joseph of Shaw & Morrow P.A., one of the defense attorneys for Garden Village Realty.

In a Feb. 6 filing, the lawyers for the apartment complex and its management company requested a retrial based on potential juror misconduct. Joseph said that the verdict "didn't make sense" to him and Katherine K. Howard, Regional Management's general counsel, and so they ran a public records search on the names of the jurors for any clues.

A paralegal at Regional Management found that one of the jurors had an open asbestos case with the Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl, the plaintiff's law firm. The opposition response to the motion for a new trial verified that the juror was a client of the firm, but that the juror's omission had been by mistake, as he had simply "not heard" the judge asking about the Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl.

"The judge found the juror's failure to respond to the question about being represented by Peter T. Nicholl was completely inadvertent," said Bruce Powell, who along with his co-counsel Lisa Smith represented Ross. "There was no chance for any bias or prejudice to enter the man's mind."

The judge also denied a motion for judgment on whether Ross' attorneys proved probable cause. Regional Management claimed Antonio's exposure to lead occurred elsewhere, pointing to the house where Antonio's father lived on Cliftview Avenue in Baltimore.

"We had ample evidence of causation and injury in the case," said Powell. "There was no question where the child was exposed to the paint."

As for the reduction in the damage award, Powell stated that they were pleased the verdict was capped at $605,000 and not any lower.