Melba Bolton v. John Crane Co.

Summary

A South Carolina state court jury awarded roughly $1.75 million to the widow of a maintenance worker who claimed exposure to asbestos in gaskets produced by industrial manufacturing company John Crane caused his fatal cancer.

Outcome

Verdict for plaintiff.
Total damages: $1.75 million.

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Bolton, Melba
Defense: John Crane Inc.
Verdict: $1,750,000

Judge: Jean Toal
Jurisdiction: 7th Judicial Circuit of South Carolina
Court: Spartanburg County Courthouse

Case Number: 2021CP4202480
Industry: Manufacturing
Practice Area: Asbestos, Products Liability

Plaintiff

Bolton, Melba

Defense

John Crane Inc.

Represented By:
Massenburg, Chris (Manning Gross + Massenburg LLP)
Skagerberg, Kate (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:35	General Case Activities
00:17:30	Opening Statement	Peterson, Holly
01:00:03	Opening Statement	Massenburg, Chris
01:44:29	Break
01:59:07	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	McKillop, George	Video Recording
03:13:28	General Case Activities
03:17:10	End of Session

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:58:55	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	McKillop, George	Video Recording
01:23:10	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Bolton, Melba	In Person
02:01:40	Break
02:09:45	General Case Activities
02:17:18	Break
02:21:36	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
02:56:15	Witness Cross Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
03:00:37	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
03:46:56	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:04:00	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
00:41:55	Witness Cross Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
02:03:10	Break
02:19:30	Witness Cross Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
02:35:30	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
02:48:38	General Case Activities
03:18:52	End of Session

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

MAR

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:40	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Thompson, Ronnie	Transcript Reading
00:23:00	Witness Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Henshaw, John	In Person
02:27:55	End of Session

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

16 Chapters

MAR

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Feingold, Dr. Allan MD	Video Conference
00:43:20	Witness Cross Examination	Wathen, Frank	Feingold, Dr. Allan MD	Video Conference
01:40:00	Break
01:56:47	Witness Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Feingold, Dr. Allan MD	Video Conference
02:15:17	Witness Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Springs, George	Video Conference
02:26:18	Witness Cross Examination	Peterson, Holly	Springs, George	Video Conference
02:31:48	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Springs, George	Video Conference
02:33:35	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Galer, Bruce	Transcript Reading
02:48:53	General Case Activities
02:53:17	End of Session

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Wathen, Frank	Henshaw, John	In Person
01:32:22	Break
01:46:47	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Henshaw, John	In Person
02:02:57	Break
02:07:12	Witness Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Feingold, Dr. Allan MD	Video Conference
02:57:22	End of Session

MAR

AM Session

Closings

6 Chapters

PM Session

Other

3 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

MAR

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Melba Bolton v. John Crane Co.

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:07:00	General Case Activities
00:30:00	Break
00:32:13	General Case Activities
00:34:30	Break
00:38:08	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Emory , Dr. Theresa M.D	In Person
01:40:12	Break
01:58:40	Witness Cross Examination	Skagerberg, Kate	Emory , Dr. Theresa M.D	In Person
02:49:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Emory , Dr. Theresa M.D	In Person
02:55:02	Break
03:12:58	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Springs, George	Video Conference
03:34:23	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:28:50	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Springs, George	Video Conference
01:12:24	Break
01:13:22	Witness Direct Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Springs, George	Video Conference
02:14:49	Break
02:26:37	General Case Activities
02:31:46	Witness Direct Examination	Wathen, Frank	Compton, Dr. Steven Ph.D.	In Person
03:29:57	General Case Activities
03:32:03	General Case Activities
03:44:26	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:33:15	Witness Direct Examination	Skagerberg, Kate	Compton, Dr. Steven Ph.D.	In Person
01:20:25	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Wathen, Frank	Compton, Dr. Steven Ph.D.	In Person
01:31:50	Break
01:41:57	Witness Direct Examination		Bolton, Curtis	Video Recording
02:02:10	Break
02:06:10	Witness Direct Examination		Bolton, Curtis	Video Recording
02:37:13	General Case Activities
02:38:29	Break
02:50:45	General Case Activities
02:54:15	Witness Direct Examination		Bolton, Curtis	Video Recording
03:12:48	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Bolton, Curtis	Transcript Reading
03:16:10	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Bandli, Dr. Bryan Ph.D.	Transcript Reading
03:31:02	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Seay, Dennis	Transcript Reading
03:44:03	General Case Activities
03:55:27	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:21	Closing Statement	Peterson, Holly
01:02:11	Break
01:14:44	Closing Statement	Massenburg, Chris
02:12:53	Closing Statement	Peterson, Holly
02:30:55	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:07:46	General Case Activities
		00:11:25	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:06:30	General Case Activities
		00:08:35	End of Session