UT ordered to pay student attacked on campus $300,000
Tennessee claims commissioner Vance Cheek Jr. on Friday found the school failed to provide adequate lighting near the parking garage where the attack occurred.
Jessica Smith, who was 18-years-old at the time of the attack, was hit with a brick in November 2002 as she walked from a parking garage to her residence hall.
Christopher Gann, now 28, pleaded guilty to attempted especially aggravated robbery in 2003 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Smith fought back and ran after he hit her from behind with a brick, but Gann, who wanted to steal her car, caught up with her and beat her in the head with the object.
Smith, who does not remember the attack, was once an honors students in college, but her reading and writing comprehension has been reduced to an eighth-grade level because of her brain injuries.
Smith’s dream of being a veterinarian will never be realized, according to her lawyer Bill Luther, who said she faces a future of menial jobs at fast-food businesses. He said she suffers from numbness in her arm, which results in frequent burns and cuts to her hand while preparing food.
“She has not improved beyond that. And she’s not going to improve,” he said Friday, when Cheek issued his finding during a conference call with Luther and an attorney representing UT.
Cheek oversaw a four-day hearing in July 2005 at UT to review arguments and evidence from Luther and UT’s lawyers.
Luther argued that UT was negligent because of inadequate lighting near the parking garage and said the university could have installed surveillance cameras and provided police patrols in the area.
Attorneys for the university sympathized with Smith’s fate but argued that only Gann was responsible for her injuries.
Cheek initially awarded Smith $1.5 million in damages but reduced that amount to $1.25 million, Luther said, because he found Smith had some fault because she was not paying attention to her surroundings while walking to her dorm.
But with a cap of $300,000 on claims against the state, Cheek awarded Smith the maximum amount.
Karen Collins, a UT spokeswoman, issued a statement about Cheek’s decision.
“The University of Tennessee continues to believe we are not liable for this random criminal act,” according to the statement. “We are reviewing the decision and will announce at a later time if we intend to appeal. Obviously we have great sympathy for Ms. Smith and all that she has endured.”
Cheek’s decision comes one month after Gann lost a bid for parole, which he won’t be eligible for again until February 2012.