Landlord Set To Stand Trial On Criminal Charges In The Carbon Monoxide Deaths Of Three Tenants

0 comments

Posted on 10th June 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , , , , ,

 In an unusual case, a landlord in Long Island, N.Y., is about to stand trial for criminally negligent homicide in the deaths of three tenants who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. 

 http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/landlord-charged-in-deaths-may-have-to-defend-himself-1.1989666

 It’s not every day that a prosecutor files criminal charges in a case of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning,  but that’s what happened in Long Island, where Wilson Milford, 52, of Brentwood, N.Y., will be tried in Suffolk County Court. 

He is accused of killing three people who lived in a house he owned in West Babylon, and where he had installed a gas-powered generator.  On Nov. 20, 2007  Tanisha Armstrong, 24, her daughter Talani Johnson, 4, and a neighbor, Ricardo Pierce, 27, died of carbon monoxide poisoning from fumes from that generator. 

On Monday Judge James Hudson told Milford that he would have to represent himself during jury selection for his trial. The judge issued that order after Milford’s attorney, Albert Dayan, resigned. Dayan told the court that he and Milford had disagreements about the fee the lawyer would receive and over a plea bargain offer that Milford turned down.

Milford has had several lawyers, and the judge accused him of being difficult so that Dayan would resign — and the trial would therefore have to be postponed. 

So the judge said Milford will have to act as his own counsel during jury selection, which was set to start Wednesday. But Milford will have a lawyer to serve as his legal advisor at jury selection.

Judge Hudson also said that Milford may also have to act as his own counsel during his trial.   

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://carbonmonoxide-poisoning.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Ohio Couple Killed By Carbon Monoxide From SUV Left Running In Garage

1 comment

Posted on 7th June 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , ,

Here are two more tragic carbon monoxide poisoning deaths.

Last Saturday a married couple, Brian and Shirley Sterling, 52 and 47, respectively, were found dead around noon in their home in Austintown, Ohio, by their daughter.

 http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/06/couple-found-dead-in-home/

She found the couple’s sport utility vehicle still running in a garage that is attached to the Sterling’s home, and naturally the vehicle was the source of  the carbon monoxide poisoning that killed the couple. A coroner’s investigator believes the husband and wife died between midnight and 4 a.m. Sunday.

I assume that the Sterlings accidentally left their SUV running, and they did not have a carbon monoxide detector in their house, hence the tragedy. Police had to ventilate the home after the bodies were found.

I and others have said it again and again: A $25 carbon monoxide alarm could save your life. It could have saved the Sterlings, and spared their poor daughter the heartache of finding their bodies.

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://carbonmonoxide-poisoning.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Forklifts Emitting Carbon Monoxide Sicken 40 Employees At Texas, North Carolina Plants

0 comments

Posted on 2nd June 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , ,

Not only gas-generated heaters, but now forklifts, are causing carbon monoxide poisoning.

There were two incidents Tuesday involving  factories, a fish-packing operation and a blueberry plant. In both cases roughly 20 employees got carbon monoxide poisoning from lethal fumes being emitted by forklifts.   

 In one incident, 21 workers at a fish packing plant in Galveston, Texas, were overcome by carbon monoxide and had to be taken to the hospital. http://www.familybadge.org/(X(1)S(fwhofpec00iolg45r1mfcruf))/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=News+1-2&newsletterid=20448&menugroup=Home

The employees at Platinum Packing on Harborside Drive were busy cutting the heads off of fish and shrimp when they suddenly got headaches and felt nauseous.

Firefighters were called to the scene, and they determined that a propane-powered forklift had been giving off  carbon monoxide fumes, sickening the workers. The forklift was running and had been left unattended.

Testing detected high levels of carbon monoxide in the fish plant.

The 21 workers, a good share of the plant’s 36 total employees, were sent to John Sealy Hospital for treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning.

 Responders brought air ventilators to the plant to rid it of the noxious fumes, and some employees did return to work  later Tuesday.

In the second incident, at least 20 workers in a blueberry plant, the Carolina Blueberry Association, in Garland, N.C., were treated at several hospitals and released after being sickened by carbon monoxide that leaked from a forklift.   

 At about 7 p.m. Tuesday some workers started to have trouble breathing. On Wednesday morning, Haz-Met crews went into the plant to investigate, and found that a forklift had been emitting carbon monoxide. 

    

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://carbonmonoxide-poisoning.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney

Three Maryland Men Killed By Carbon Monoxide From Gas Generator

0 comments

Posted on 1st June 2010 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

, , , ,

No matter how many stories appear in newspapers on the topic, people obviously still don’t seem to understand the danger of using gas-fueled generators indoors to heat their home. Or maybe they’re so cold, they don’t care and put on the generators.

In the latest lethal accident, three men in their prime were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in Hyattsville, Md., this past weekend, according to The Washington Post.  

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/30/AR2010053002805.html

The victims of the lethal gas found in their home Sunday morning  were Henry Gonzalez, 18, his brother Edward Gonzalez, 20, and their friend Elon Jones. The three men reportedly had bought the generator that caused their deaths on Saturday.

As is the case with  many victims killed by carbon monoxide from from gas generators, the local electric company had shut off the electricity on Thursday because of unpaid bills. I wish that utility companies would have a little more leeway befor they cut people’s power off. 

In the case in Hyattsville, the home on 38th Street had been foreclosed on, and the three men had plans to move to an apartment the end of the month. If the utility company had given them a grace period, and not shut off the power, these young men might still be alive.

Firefighters found carbon monixide levels of 200 to 300 parts per million in the Hyattsville home, much higher the 35 parts per million level that is thought to be safe.    

Even when people try to be safe using gas generators, there are dangers. On Monday 10 people, five children and five adults, living in a home in Indianapolis were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-carbonmonoxidepoi,0,308434.story

The home had a gas-fueled generator that had a hose to vent the lethal carbon monoxide fumes. But that hose had come off, so carbon monoxide escape into the home. Luckily, one of the people in the house woke up feeling sick and woke everyone else up.    

   

 

 

Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://carbonmonoxide-poisoning.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney