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Judge awards $10 million in wrongful death suit

BY JOHN D. HOMAN, THE SOUTHERN

Wednesday, January 2, 2008 9:21 PM CST

HARRISBURG - Judge Ron Eckiss ruled last week in Saline County Circuit Court that Dr. Roger Herrin, representing the estate of his late son, Michael, is entitled to $10 million in damages as the result of the 15-year-old's death in June 2001.

"The court finds that a significant loss of society has been sustained by all of the survivors of Michael Herrin and that an amount adequate to compensate for the wrongful death is $10 million," Eckiss wrote in his judgment.

Ordered to pay Herrin and his family are defendants Brian and Robert Bramlet. They were also ordered to pay medical and funeral expenses incurred by the family totaling more than $10,000.

Michael Herrin of Harrisburg was killed June 14, 2001, when a 1981 Ford F-100 farm truck driven by Brian Bramlet of Carmi, traveling eastbound on Lone Oak Road, failed to stop at the Illinois 34 intersection and struck the right passenger side of a 1998 Jeep Cherokee in which Herrin was a passenger.

Both vehicles traveled off the northbound side of the roadway after the collision and into a ditch. Two unsecured passengers in the Jeep, including Herrin, were ejected from the vehicle. Herrin died as a result of his injuries.

Attorney John Womick with the Womick Law Firm in Carbondale and Herrin said such financial awards are "unheard of"' in Southern Illinois.

"I don't know how surprised I am by the judgment, as that is the amount that I requested on behalf of the family, but it is unusual," Womick said. "Now it's a matter of recovering the money from the insurance companies."

Womick said accidents happen and the Bramlets were genuinely disturbed by what transpired. He said the defendants admitted negligence and that constituted the cause of the wrongful death.

john.homan@thesouthern.com / 351-5805