Recent Development by Peggy L. Crane
Patrick Jacobs died on March 8, 1997, from injuries he sustained while on board the M/T MARINA. Northern King Shipping Company owned the M/T MARINA, and the vessel was managed by Sun Enterprises, Ltd. When Jacobs arrived on the ship on March 8, several members of the ship's crew noticed that he was flushed and trembling. At dinner, and again later that evening, other crew members noticed that Jacobs was red-faced, sweaty, and trembling. At 11:25 in the evening, Jacobs was spotted wandering around the “D” deck of the ship; Captain Exameliotis asked him if he needed assistance, which Jacobs declined. The captain then heard Jacobs fall while descending the steps. He again asked Jacobs if he needed assistance, and Jacobs again declined. Next, the ship's radio operator noticed Jacobs, who appeared confused and disoriented. The radio operator asked Jacobs if he needed help, and Jacobs mumbled incoherently. The radio operator followed Jacobs, who was trying to climb the deck railing. When the radio operator tried to assist Jacobs, Jacobs struck him with a drinking glass; the radio operator went to his room to clean his bleeding wound, leaving Jacobs alone. The ship's chief engineer saw Jacobs strike the radio operator and said he would notify the captain. The captain, chief engineer, and apprentice deck officer looked for Jacobs and found him on the lower “A” deck at 11:35 in the evening. Jacobs was lying on his back and bleeding from his left thigh and head. Jacobs died about fifteen minutes after his fall, despite crew efforts to save him. His death resulted from hemorrhaging and broken cervical vertebrae, caused by the fall.
Linda Jacobs, as Temporary Administratrix of Jacobs' estate, brought suit under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), the Jones Act, and general maritime law. She later added a complaint under the Texas Survival Statute. The district court dismissed the plaintiff's Jones Act claim and her claim under the Texas Survival Statute, holding that a plaintiff may not maintain both a state and a general maritime law survival action under Thornhill v. Otto Candies, Inc. At trial, the district court concluded that DOHSA controlled and found the vessel interests 100% responsible for Jacobs' death. The district court entered a judgment for $443,000 for the plaintiff.
The vessel interests appealed from the judgment. In the noted case, the Fifth Circuit addressed whether the district court's findings that the vessel interests were negligent and that Jacobs was not comparatively negligent were clearly erroneous. Furthermore, the court considered whether, in light of Dooley v. Korean Air Lines Co., the district court erred in awarding the plaintiff pecuniary survival damages for Jacobs' pre-death pain and suffering. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that courts are not authorized to supplement DOHSA with general maritime law or state law to permit recovery for pre-death pain and suffering. Jacobs v. Northern King Shipping Co., 180 F.3d 713, 714, 1999 AMC 2341, 2342 (5th Cir. 1999).
About the Author
Peggy L. Crane.
Citation
75 Tul. L. Rev. 231 (2000)