Jury Selection Begins in Plane Crash Lawsuit

Marshfield, WIBefore the jury selection had began in a lawsuit involving a September 2001 plane crash, settlements involving two of the defendants were made public. The first was between the defendants and Aero Aviation, which is a manufacturer of airplane parts. The settlement amount was for $100,000. The second was with Duffy's Aircraft Sales and Leasing.

The September 29, 2001 crash occurred west of the Marshfield airport in a field belonging to a farmer. The crash killed passengers Michael Cervi, 30, Andrew Maly, 31, and pilot Mitchell Schier, 41. It was later concluded in a November 2003 report that the investigation revealed the crash was a result of both failure of one of the Cessna's engines and pilot error.

The civil lawsuit was filed by Cervi's widow and Maly's and Schier's parents in September 2004. In the suit, they have alleged that the company Engine Components Inc. was negligent when they replaced an engine cylinder in the engine that had failed. Listed as a third party defendant is Mel potter who owns Potter and Sons, the owner of the plane. Potter had also been involved in the 2004 wrongful death filing against Engine Components Inc., Aero Aviation, and Airmotive Engineering.

Finding a courtroom large enough for a jury trial was difficult and judges have been moved around to allow for the four week trial. The trial will be heard in the Wood County Branch 2 Courtroom because it is the largest out of the county court system's courtrooms.

However, the jury selection for the case was quite complex. Out of the pool of 90 potential jurors, 10 we weeded out early in the selection process based on the questions that the judge asked. Another 10 were weeded out about halfway through. By the end of the day, there were 17 jurors selected. That is 12 jurors with five backup jurors. The questions the judge asked were meant to find impartial jurors and jurors who would be fair. This is necessary to build the 12-person jury that will hear the case.

The case is expected to come to an end near May 24 and is believed to be one of the most complex trials that Wood County Circuit Court has experienced in recent history.

By: Ginger Gillenwater