Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
A pool of nearly 80 potential jurors was waiting it out in a Whiteside County courtroom Monday, Nov. 3, as jury selection began in a wrongful death civil case that could see the jury asked to award tens of millions of dollars to a Sterling firefighter’s widow and children. Brittney C. Ramos is suing the city of Rock Falls, former Rock Falls Fire Chief Cris Bouwens, and former Deputy Fire Chief Ken Wolf, who is now Rock Falls’ fire chief, in connection with the line-of-duty death of Capt. Garrett Ramos on Dec. 4, 2021. Ramos, 38, died after the floor beneath him collapsed while he was fighting a fire that began late Dec. 3, 2021, at 10031 Ridge Road in rural Rock Falls. Ramos, a Sterling firefighter who was working the fire while his department was providing mutual aid to the Rock Falls Fire Department, was discovered unresponsive and out of air in the basement of the home about 30 minutes after two of his mayday calls went unanswered. According to an Occupational Safety and Health Administration report, Ramos’ death was caused by “exposure to respiratory hazards. The victim’s breathing air supply was completely depleted. According to the coroner’s report, death was attributed to asphyxia caused by inhalation of products of combustion due to a fire.” Brittney Ramos filed the lawsuit in December 2022. She is specifically claiming her husband’s death was the result of Bouwens and Wolf not following proper procedures and that his death was the result of “willful and wanton” disregard for her husband’s safety. The city, Bouwens, and Wolf have countered that Ramos was partially responsible for missteps that contributed to his own death. Monday, the first day of the trial, brought 80 people to the courthouse in Morrison for jury selection as attorneys and presiding judge James Heuerman worked to seat a 12-member jury with two alternates. A second group of 80 is expected in court on Tuesday to continue the jury selection process. The trial is expected to last until Nov. 14. As they worked to seat a jury on Monday, Ramos’s attorney, Michael Gallagher, addressed the first set of potential jurors by telling them he would be looking for brutal honesty in how they answered the questions that would be posed to them. Gallagher also explained to the jury pool that civil trials and criminal trials differ in the burden of proof that is required to find someone guilty or liable. In a criminal trial, a jury can find someone guilty only if the evidence shows the person is guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In a civil trial, the standard of guilt is that a defendant is more likely than not to be at fault. He said the jury would be tasked with deciding if Bouwens and Wolf acted with conscious disregard for Ramos’ safety. “We’re not alleging that they intended or that they knew it would happen,” he said. He also asked potential jurors during questioning if they could set aside the respect they have for firefighters as the jury is making its decisions. “We’re looking at their conduct, not the profession itself,” Gallagher said. “Can you hold a firefighter accountable if they don’t follow the rules?” “If supervisors violated standards, would you hold the supervisors accountable?” he questioned. Defense attorney Michael Kujawa posed similar questions, but asked potential jurors if they could be “fair and reasonable to everyone.” He stressed that the jurors would have to consider this case in two parts: liability first, and then whether damages should be awarded to Brittney Ramos and the couple’s two children. “If they fail to prove their case, and we prove there was no conscious disregard, do you all agree that you could sign a verdict form giving Ms. Ramos no money,” he asked. “We’re going to ask you to hold Garrett Ramos to the same level of accountability as anyone else.” More than 20 firefighters are on the potential witness list, which also includes an economist who will testify to Ramos’ potential earnings if he had worked to the age of 68. Gallagher also said an expert will tell the jury about what Ramos experienced in the last 10 to 15 minutes of his life, and that such pain and suffering could be figured into the amount of damages that could be awarded to Brittney Ramos. Also factored in would be pain and suffering experienced by Brittney Ramos upon learning of his death and the ongoing losses his immediate family would experience in the future. That would include taking into account the predicted life span of Brittney Ramos, placed at another 50 years, and the future life expectancy of their two children, which is estimated at 70 more years. Gallagher said that amount could be upward of tens of millions of dollars.
