Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Andrew Schulman, who oversaw the civil trial in the former youth detention center abuse scandal, earlier this month moved to significantly slash the $38 million verdict, according to the Associated Press.
Schulman shrunk the $38 million awarded to survivor David Meehan by almost 99%, and brought it down to a staggering $475,000.
Meehan—along with 1,110 other victims—alleged horrific acts of abuse and said he was beaten and raped multiple times at the youth detention center in the 1990s.
The reason why the awarded amount has to be capped is because state law caps claims against the state at $475,000 per “incident,” something that jurors involved in the case were not informed about.
When asked during trial, “How many incidents does the jury unanimously find the plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the evidence?” some jurors responded by writing one.
Jurors explained that they wrote “one” interpreting a single “incident” of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting from the several acts of abuse Meehan suffered.
The judge has denied Meehan’s motion for a new trial to determine the number of incidents. An entirely new trial could be an option, but hasn’t been requested yet.
