Sheboygan Man Killed When His SUV’s Tire Blows Out

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Posted on 27th August 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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A Sheboygan man died Tuesday when his Ford Explorer had a tire blow out, sending the SUV rolling over several times and landing in a ditch, according to the Sheboygan Press.

http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20100826/SHE0101/8260463/Crash-victim-remembered

Joseph Godbert, a 59-year-old British citizen, was driving north on Interstate 43 at 5 p.m. when his SUV blew a tire and had the rollover crash. He was not wearing a seatbelt, and died at the accident scene from trauma to the head and chest. 

According to a witness, Godbert was speeding at about 80 mph when he passed a car in the left lane. He was moving back to the right lane when his tire went out.

Godbert was originally a carpenter but had spent  the last 27 years working for Kohler Co. as a display technician

So far this year three people have been killed in Sheboygan County in vehicular accidents, a fraction of last year’s 12 fatalities.

When he was young, Godbert was “an elite soccer player” in England, according to the Sheboygan Press.

He had lived in the United States for three decades, but kept his British citizenship.

Wisconsin, ACLU Reach Settlement On Female Prisoner Suit

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Posted on 18th August 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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In a settlement of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Wisconsin must ante up and foot the bill to offer female prisoners the same type of health care and mental health services that men receive, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday. http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/101013499.html

The case will cost Wisconsin “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to the newspaper. The settlement of the federal litigation, filed by the ACLU against the state Department of Corrections, is expected to be filed Friday. 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 700 women prisoners doing time at the the Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac.

Under the settlement, the prison will have a full-time family practice doctor on staff at $195,000 a year. Currently, the prison only has a part-time physician, according to the Journal Sentinel.      

 The corrections department will also have to bring in a consultant to recommend improvements to the prison’s health care and psychiatric services. That consultant is also in charge of making sure that Taycheedah implements those changes. 

Finally, the prison must build new therapy facilities and a center for inmates with serious mental health problems. Those facilities must be ready and in use by June 1, 2012.

 

Three Men Abandon Sexual Abuse Suit Against The Vatican

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Posted on 16th August 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Three Americans who allege they were sexually abused by priests are dropping their landmark lawsuit against the Vatican, according to The Wall Street Journal.

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703435104575421443951992242.html%3

The attorney for the trio last Monday asked U.S. District Court Judge John Heyburn to dismiss the landmark lawsuit, filed in federal court in Louisville, Ky., in 2004. The lawyer, William McMurray, basically said his clients wouldn’t be able to hold the Holy See in Rome responsible for the priest sex abuse scandal in the United States, because of the “impossible burden” of proof  required by U.S. courts.

A Illinois man has a similar federal suit pending that alleges he was abused by the Rev. Lawrence Murphy at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Francis, outside Milwaukee.  Before he died in 1998 Father Murphy confessed to molesting 200 school boys from 1952 to 1974.  

There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of lawsuits filed by people who allege that they were molested by Catholic priests. But those suits usually name a priest or diocese as defendants, not the Vatican.

The federal litigation involving Father Murphy names Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy See and several top Vatican officials.

Earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court let a lower court ruling, which said that suits can be filed against the Vatican on certain grounds,  stand. That case stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a man in Portland, Ore., who alleged he was molested when he was a teenager by a priest. 

http://wis-injury.com/blog/2010/07/u-s-supreme-court-lets-sex-abuse-suit-against-vatican-stand.html?preview=true&preview_id=479&preview_nonce=363a4a7017

Girl Falls 40 Feet In ‘Free Fall’ Ride Accident In Wisconsin Dells

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Posted on 11th August 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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 A 12-year-old girl was injured on a ride at a Wisconsin Dells amusement park after falling 40 feet when the mechanism that was supposed to break her fall didn’t work, according to the Associated Press.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/12-year-old-girl-injured-after-plunging-more-than-40-feet-in-wisconsin-amusement-park/19576000

The girl was at the Extreme World amusement park on the Terminal Velocity, which is supposed to give riders the feeling of  “an unattached, controlled free fall,” when she had the accident July 30. Riders are strapped into a harness, brought up an elevator, and then released straight down into an airtube-supported net. 

But when the girl was released for her free fall, a safety net mechanism failed to break her fall, and she hit the ground, according to Lake Delton police.

The girl was visiting the Wisconsin Dells with her family, who live out of state. She was taken to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison for treatment, and details of her injuries weren’t disclosed.  

    

NASCAR’s Jack Roush Recovering From Oshkosh Plane Crash, But Did He Sustain Brain Injury?

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Posted on 1st August 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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 NASCAR team owner Jack Roush remained hospitalized and recovering from the facial injuries he sustained when he crashed his jet in Oshkosh last Tuesday, according to Fanhouse.com.

http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/07/30/jack-roush-doing-better-drivers-expect-him-back-soon/

As a brain injury attorney, I can’t help but wonder if Roush has also been tested for potential brain injury. If his face was cut up, then that of course is a head injury, so my immediate thought was that he might have sustained a mild concussion.

Roush was moved to the Mayo Clinic on Wednesday, where he remains. He had undergone surgery at a hospital in Neenah, Wis., on Tuesday night.    

Roush, an aviation buff who owns many planes, flew to Oshkosh to attend the Experimental Aircraft  Association’s annual AirVenture show.

The NASCAR owner was trying to land his Premier Beechcraft jet at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh when it crashed. Roush and his passenger walked away from the plane, but Roush sustained major facial injuries.