Baltimore County Circuit Court rules party video no help to

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), May 20, 2008 by Danny Jacobs

An Essex family is not liable for injuries allegedly suffered by a guest in a dock collapse during a wedding they hosted, a Baltimore County jury decided.

A wedding video showing the host drinking and wrestling with his adult son failed to help the plaintiff, who claimed he fell and was injured when a boat the two men were towing hit the dock.

The jury of four men and two women deliberated 3 1/2 hours in Baltimore County Circuit Court before returning a defense verdict on Friday for Leroy Weinreich, of Essex; his wife, Leslie; and his son, Leroy Jr.

The family hosted the July 2, 2005, party to celebrate Independence Day as well as the wedding of a close friend of Leslie Weinreich.

Lonnie J. Nelson and his wife, Kim, both of Edgewood, attended as guests.

According to the Nelsons' complaint, Lonnie Nelson was standing on Weinreich's pier as the Weinreich men attempted to tow a boat to the dock. The towing boat made a sharp turn near the dock, causing the towed boat to hit the dock, which collapsed.

Nelson alleged he injured his back and neck in the fall.

At trial in Judge Thomas J. Bollinger's courtroom, Nelson was unable to sit on the wooden benches and placed a pillow behind the cushioned chair he used. He frequently stood and walked with a noticeable limp or leaned over one of the benches during the eight- day trial.

The Weinreichs argued Nelson was standing on the pier away from the collapsed dock at the time of the collision and that Nelson had prior medical problems due to an injury he sustained in 2004 while an employee of CSX, where he and Leroy Weinreich were co-workers, according to court testimony and documents.

Carolyn Cole, the Weinreichs' lawyer, declined to comment through her firm, The Law Offices of Joseph M. Jagielski in Baltimore.

Pennsylvania lawyer Robert E. Myers and John M. Bader of Bader and Cooper in Baltimore, who represented the Nelsons, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Myers, as part of his effort to show the Weinreich men "negligently and carelessly" operated the boats, entered into evidence a videotape of the wedding showing the men drinking. Jurors saw Leroy Weinreich giving a champagne toast and on separate occasions drinking from a beer can and a red plastic cup. Leroy Weinreich Jr. also was filmed holding a beer funnel. Another portion of the video showed two people dancing in the foreground while the Weinreich men briefly wrestled in the background.

Cole, however, used the same videotape to refute the Nelsons' claims, demonstrating the drinking took place after the dock collapsed at 5 p.m.

Steve Wernick, director of development with The 4EVER Group, a trade association for independent video producers, said in an interview Friday it is rare for event tapes to be used in court but not unprecedented. An event video in Pennsylvania was used about six months ago to convict someone accused of stealing gifts from the function, said Wernick, a veteran video producer in Philadelphia.

Wernick said he has been hired with the intent to use his film as part of a lawsuit but has never had any of his event footage used in court. Still, he knows it could happen one day.

"Anyone with a camera knows anything can happen," he said.