After nine days of intense deliberations, a jury of seven men and five women today rendered a verdict against a local Sacramento radio station in the civil trial of William A. Strange et al v. Entercom Sacramento LLC and Entercom Communications Inc. et al. The trial was to determine accountability for the death of Jennifer Strange, who died as a result of a water drinking contest sponsored by Entercom Sacramento's radio station KDND. By unanimous vote, the jury decided that Entercom Sacramento was negligent in Strange's death; by unanimous vote, they also decided that the parent company, Entercom Communications of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania was not responsible. By a vote of ten to two, the

The closing arguments in the case of William Strange et al vs Entercom not only summed up the case for the jury, but presented them with guidelines for determining compensation should they find Entercom liable for the water drinking death stemming from KDND's January 2007 "Hold Your Wii to Win a Nintendo Wii" radio contest. Sacramento Bee reporter Andy Furillo and KOVR CBS 13 reporter David Begnaud reported that plaintiiff attorney Roger Dreyer is seeking more than $24 million, and plaintiff attorney Harvey Levine is seeking an additional $12 million. They report that Defense attorney Don Carlson told the jury $4.5 million would be more appropriate compensation. But those broad numbers d

Roger Dreyer began the morning by reminding the jury what this trial is all about: Jennifer Strange. While I have focused heavily on the corporate aspects of the trial, I think it a good time to reflect on the woman at the core of this trial, Jennifer. By all accounts, she was much loved and respected. Here was a single mother, who gave birth to her elder son Keegan when she was just seventeen, who focused her life on that little boy. She exhibited remarkable maturity for a girl her age, and she sheparded her son into the GATE program for gifted children. She attended every parents teacher conference, she spearheaded activities at her son's school, and dhe became good friends with her

Defense attorney Don Carlson, who represents Entercom Sacramento and Entercom Communications Inc., called his first witness to the stand this morning. Stephany Fiore, Forensic Pathologist for the Sacramento County Coroner's office had conducted the autopsy on Jennifer Strange. Fiore testified that while she had done a couple of autopsies with cases of hyponatremia, she had never done a case of acute water intoxication. She testified that in her research, she discovered 18 cases of people who died from water intoxication, and that 15 of those cases involved people who were severe psychotics; the other three were either marathon runners or military trainees. Under questioning from Plainti

Billy Strange, widower of Jennifer, who died at a water drinking contest at KDND's 107.9 FM Morning Rave program, brought the most emotional testimony of the trial so far. Very well spoken, Strange talked about meeting Jennifer when they'd both been on Mitchell Junior High's cross country team. Jennifer was a year older, and out of his "league" socially, but he admired her. "She stood out because she was very competitive. She did not like to lose, so she would do anything she could to win." He met her years later when he was printing flyers for his band at Kinkos; Jennifer tapped him on his shoulder, and struck up a conversation about music. The two soon were dating, and within six month

Entercom Communications General Legal Counsel John Dunleavy, in a videotaped deposition of 4-29-08, went head to head with Plaintiff attorney Roger Dreyer's questions about the definitions in company contest guidleines as to "dangerous" and "bad taste." Asked whether it is the Entercom's legals department's responsibility to train employees to run contests, Dunleavy said Legal helps develop training materials but that it is a collective effort, to be approved by upper management. He said the Power Point presentation was part of the training, the contest guidelines were another part, and that much more goes into it, but is privileged "back and forth" between the stations. When asked whethe

Psychologist Dr. Diana Everstine was hired as an expert witness by plaintiff's attorneys. She said that from a group dynamics standpoint, as there were fewer and fewer contestants, the ones left would be more determined to win, and may not be making sound decisions. Their adrenaline would be up, the pressure would be high, and that was compounded by the water intoxication. She said that reality show contestants are very closely monitored, even when they are not subject to water intoxication. She talked about reality shows such as "Survivor," and noted that contestants for such contests are screened carefully, that psychologists and medical personnel were always present, and contestants w

Dr. George Kaysen, MD was hired by plaintiff's attorney as a medical expert. Kaysen teaches at UC Davis; his expertise is in nephrologist, specializing in kidney disease, including electrolite abnormalities. He said that hyponatremia "happens quite commonly," especially with patients on diuretics. He spent a lot of time educationg the jury as to the technical meaning of hyponatremia; it came down to the dilution of the level of salt in the bloodstream balances with the level of salt in the cells, and that when the salt fell below a certain level, it would cause cell swelling, and brain swelling. Kaysen also said that no matter how much water a person drinks, the kidney can only process ab

Station Manager not told what Dangerous meant In a videotaped deposition dated July 12, 2007, KDND station manager Steve Weed testified as to his forty plus year radio career. His role at KDND was to coach on air talent with the goal of entertaining and getting listeners, helping performers improve their craft, and making musical decisions. Part of his job was to listen to the various programs to look for deficiencies and help correct them. He said he punched in and out of the morning Rave the day of the contest, but felt the contest was consistent with those they'd had for the six years of the Morning Rave program. Although he supervised Pechota, Weed said his responsibility was to super