Wrongful death lawsuit for skier lies mostly on testimonies
Taft Conlin, a young adult in Vail, Coloardo, died in a skiing accident at the Vail Resort. Whose fault it was, is still up for debate, as the resort is currently in the middle of a lawsuit filed by the victim's parents, which claim the company was negligent and, therefore, created an "avalanche trap."
According to the Associated Press, the defendant has asked the judge to dismiss the case because, according to court documents, "the incident resulted from 'inherent dangers and risks' of skiing.'" The company also states that it did not do anything to violate the Ski Safety Act in the state.
But, the family says that the resort did, actually, violate the act because they left a gate open on the lower part of a run. This allowed Conlin and his friends to follow the tracks of other who had skied that day by walking through the gate. By leaving a door open to a place that the resort has marked as dangerous, the family's lawyer, Jim Heckbert, said the company violated the act.
"The ski safety act says if you want to close a trail you must close all entrances to that trail," Heckbert told the Vail Daily. "That second gate was left open, and that violates the Ski Safety Act. If they violated any part of that statute, and they did, they are in violation of the act."
While there may not be any surveillance footage or third-party witnesses to show whether the gate was left open, most of what the judge has to go by is through deposition transcripts and witness testimonies. In order to ensure these documents are as accurate as possible, attorneys may want to partner with Wisconsin court reporters that are certified as real-time reporters.
