QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Nick Whitney, the Kowalski family’s attorney during the trial, said the family is prepared to keep fighting. “We’re disappointed by the decision, but the Kowalskis will persevere,” Whitney said in a text. “Judge Smith’s concurring opinion emphasized Johns Hopkins’ outrageous actions towards Maya, and the next jury will see things just like the first one did.”
-------------------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In an concurring opinion also published by the court, Judge Andrea Teves Smith highlighted the conduct of a hospital social worker who told the patient that her mom was mentally ill and that she would end up in foster care, and that of nurses who berated Maya and accused her of faking her symptoms. There is “competent substantial evidence” that meets the legal threshold of “outrageousness” for the family’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, she wrote. “These health care providers were in charge of caring for and treating Maya. Instead, they exploited their positions with full knowledge that Maya, a 10-year-old child, would not be able to endure such outrageous conduct and undoubtedly suffer severe emotional distress as a result,” her opinion said.
———————————————————————————
PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Their 2018 lawsuit accused the hospital of blocking the family from leaving the hospital with their child prior to a judge approving the state’s request to remove her from her family.
The lawsuit also detailed doctors placing the girl in a room equipped with video surveillance for one 48-hour period to try to prove she was faking her symptoms. On another occasion, she was told to strip her down to her underwear and was photographed without permission from her parents or a court. A hospital social worker sometimes kissed and hugged the girl and had her sit on her lap.
Both Maya, now 20, and her younger brother, Kyle Kowalski, wept when the initial verdict was announced. The jury of four women and two men sided with the Kowalskis on every count in the lawsuit and awarded damages of $261 million against All Children’s."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STORY: “Appeals court reverses $208M judgment against All Children’s in ‘Maya’ case,” by Reporter Christopher O’Donnell, published by The Tampa Bay Times, on November 29, 20225."
SUB-HEADING: "The St. Petersburg hospital was sued by the family of a mother who took her own life after she was reported for child abuse.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Maya Kowalski hugs her attorney Nick Whitney after a jury awarded her family more than $200 million Nov. 9, 2023. The Kowalski family sued Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital for false imprisonment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, medical negligence, battery and other claims more than a year after the family matriarch, Beata Kowalski, took her life following allegations she was abusing her daughter."
PHOTO CAPTION: "The hospital’s report to the state abuse hotline was based on concerns that the child, who had been diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, was being prescribed high doses of ketamine."
GIST: "An appeals court has reversed a civil jury trial decision that resulted in a $208 million judgment against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in the case made famous by the “Take Care of Maya” Netflix documentary.
In a 48-page ruling issued Wednesday, a three-judge panel for Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the evidence from the civil trial does not support the jury’s verdict that the hospital contributed to the 2017 suicide of Beata Kowalski. She took her own life after her 10-year-old daughter, Maya, was removed by the state and sheltered at All Children’s for three months.
The lower court erred in not giving more legal protection to the hospital in its role as a state-mandated reporter of suspected child abuse, the judges said. They ruled there was no evidence to support the jury’s award of $50 million in punitive damages, which requires proof that the hospital was “guilty of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.”
“Nothing in the record suggests that (the hospital’s) participation in implementing the dependency court orders, as it was required to do, was not done in good faith,” the opinion said.
Judges also found fault with Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll’s decision not to give the hospital a new trial or, for some of the counts in the lawsuit, a directed verdict, where a judge — not a jury — decides the outcome.
The ruling comes almost two years after a nine-week civil trial resulted in a jury finding that All Children’s falsely imprisoned and battered Maya Kowalski and contributed to her mother’s suicide
The appeal court’s decision was not a clean slate for All Children’s. It leaves the option for the family to seek a new civil trial on whether the hospital was guilty of intentional infliction of emotional distress in its treatment of Maya. Counts of false imprisonment, battery and medical negligence of Maya could also be retried, the ruling said.
In an concurring opinion also published by the court, Judge Andrea Teves Smith highlighted the conduct of a hospital social worker who told the patient that her mom was mentally ill and that she would end up in foster care, and that of nurses who berated Maya and accused her of faking her symptoms.
There is “competent substantial evidence” that meets the legal threshold of “outrageousness” for the family’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, she wrote.
“These health care providers were in charge of caring for and treating Maya. Instead, they exploited their positions with full knowledge that Maya, a 10-year-old child, would not be able to endure such outrageous conduct and undoubtedly suffer severe emotional distress as a result,” her opinion said.
Nick Whitney, the Kowalski family’s attorney during the trial, said the family is prepared to keep fighting.
“We’re disappointed by the decision, but the Kowalskis will persevere,” Whitney said in a text. “Judge Smith’s concurring opinion emphasized Johns Hopkins’ outrageous actions towards Maya, and the next jury will see things just like the first one did.”
The tragic story of the Sarasota County family generated worldwide headlines after it was turned into a documentary called “Take Care of Maya.” Released on Netflix in 2023, it was viewed almost 14 million times in the first two weeks.
All Children’s attorney Ethen Shapiro of law firm Hill Ward Henderson said the ruling will protect workers and others required by law to report possible child abuse to the state’s hotline.
“This opinion sends a clear and vital message to mandatory reporters in Florida and across the country that their duty to report suspicions of child abuse and, critically, their good faith participation in child protection activities remain protected,” he said in an email. “We thank the judges for their time and attention to this matter, and we appreciate that they understood what many did not: that a one-sided movie is no substitute for a fair judicial process.”
The decision is a hammer blow for the Kowalski family, who fought for five years to get the case to trial.
Their 2018 lawsuit accused the hospital of blocking the family from leaving the hospital with their child prior to a judge approving the state’s request to remove her from her family.
The lawsuit also detailed doctors placing the girl in a room equipped with video surveillance for one 48-hour period to try to prove she was faking her symptoms. On another occasion, she was told to strip her down to her underwear and was photographed without permission from her parents or a court. A hospital social worker sometimes kissed and hugged the girl and had her sit on her lap.
Both Maya, now 20, and her younger brother, Kyle Kowalski, wept when the initial verdict was announced. The jury of four women and two men sided with the Kowalskis on every count in the lawsuit and awarded damages of $261 million against All Children’s .
Carroll, the judge, later reduced it by roughly $50 million."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
———————————————————————————————
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
-------------------------------------------------------------------
