UCF Football Guilty in Ereck Plancher Wrongful Death Trial

Ereck Plancher Trial, Football, News, Sports — By Staff on July 1, 2011 at 2:06 pm

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More than three years after UCF football player Ereck Plancher died following a workout, his parents’ lawyer said the $10 million verdict awarded by the jury brought “justice” for the family.

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Both Sides React to Verdict; Exclusive Legal Analysis:

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UCF spokesman Grant Heston said justice was not done by the verdict. He announced that the university’s athletics association corporation will be appealing the verdict.

The jury did not award punitive damages to the Plancher family. KnightNews.com legal analyst Lisa Figueroa explained how that means the jury didn’t believe the UCF football program committed egregious or outrageous negligence.

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Watch Planchers Discuss Verdict in Exclusive Orlando Sentinel Interivew:
 

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Circuit Judge Robert M. Evans said the Plancher family attorney Steven Yerrid and J.D. Dowell would have to prove UCF Coach George O’Leary ordered water and trainers out of the fieldhouse in order for punitive damages to be awarded. Heston indicated that the jury’s decision not to award punitive damages reaffirms the university’s position of support for the athletic association’s leadership as UCF believes it makes the right decisions.

But a CBS Sports blogger named Dennis Dodd disagrees with Heston. He has already called for the firing of UCF Athletic Director Keith Tribble and O’Leary in the wake of the verdict.

KnightNews.com was the only media outlet in Central Florida to dedicate the necessary resources to cover this trial gavel-to-gavel with a live video stream, because the Casey Anthony case ate up everyone else’s resources.

KnightNews.com will work to add more video on demand of the Plancher trial to KnightNews.com over the next few days. Check back for updates on the appeal.