PALESTINE-- An Anderson County jury has issued a $8.6 million verdict on bahalf of a Palestine woman who was severly injured in a June 2006 crash when a tractor trailer rig ran a red light and struck her car.

Marth NMichelle Gaines of Palestine was 19 when she sustained head and other injuries shortly after noon on June 11, 2006 after her 2000 Buick Park Avenue was broad-sided by a defective truck/tractor operated by a 46-year-old White Oak man who had run a red light at the intersection of North Loop 256 and Sterne Avenue.

A civil lawsuit was filed by Gaines agains the truck's driver, Kenneth Lee Woodworth, and business associates, Bennie Joe Adkinson and Joseph P. Pritchett, with the trial beginning Feb. 9 at the Anderson County Courthouse.

Followin deliberations Tuesday, the 12-person jury issued a unanimous verdict, finding that Woodworth, the driver; Adkinson, the truck's owner; and Pritchett, whom plaintiff attorneys successfully argued was in "a joint enterpries" with Adkinson, were negligent for their actions in relation to the crash.

The defendants will now likely appeal the verdict to the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler and ultimately the Texas Supreme Court.

Woodworth did not have a driver's license after it was suspended in 2000, and the 55,000-pound tractor/trailer carrying oilfield equipment had no brakes at the time of the crash, according to the plaintiff's attorneys.

"This is the first and a very important step in holding the people who injured Michelle responsible," Houston attorney Scott Clearman told the Herald-Press following the verdict. "With the court system process, it may take a couple of years before the money is available to Michelle."

Clearman and Brian Walsh, both of the Clearman Law Firm, Palestine attorney Dick Swift and Austin attorney Brad Reagan represnted Gaines druing the week-long trial.

Pritchett was represented by Dallas attorney Robert Roby, while Woodworth and Adkinson both represented themselves.

Gaines was in a coma for more than two months follwing the wreck and suffered head and other injuries, including broken ribs and a broken pelvis. She later spent several months at Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas where she underwent speech, occupational and physical therapy for five days a week.

Gaines spent a total of 14 months recuperating in hospitals and rehabilitation centers.

"This was a horrific example of negligence on the part of the truck's driver (Woodworth) and the joint enterprise (Adkinson and Pritchett) involved in this operation," Walsh, who is a graduate of Cayuga High School. "These individuals showed utter disregard for the safety of the driving public, and I hope that this jury's unanimous verdict sends an important message to persons everywhere."

Swift said the jury's award is a record verdict for Anderson County.

"This jury's verdict is a strong affirmation for Michelle," Swift said. "This is the latest step in a complicated legal process that will bring some much-needed justice for Michelle. It's taken Michelle 3 1/2 years for a jury to hear and decide her case, and it's still not over."

87th State District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans presided over the trial.

Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestinehearald.com