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
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:16:55	Opening Statement	Peterson, Holly
00:59:28	Opening Statement	Massenburg, Chris
01:43:54	Break
01:58:32	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	McKillop, George	Video Recording
03:12:53	General Case Activities
03:16:35	End of Session

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
00:37:55	Witness Cross Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
01:59:10	Break
02:15:30	Witness Cross Examination	Massenburg, Chris	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
02:31:30	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Holstein, Dr. Edwin	In Person
02:44:38	General Case Activities
03:14:52	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

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
00:00:00	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

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:23:00	Break
00:25:13	General Case Activities
00:27:30	Break
00:31:08	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Emory , Dr. Theresa M.D	In Person
01:33:12	Break
01:51:40	Witness Cross Examination	Skagerberg, Kate	Emory , Dr. Theresa M.D	In Person
02:42:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Emory , Dr. Theresa M.D	In Person
02:48:02	Break
03:05:58	Witness Direct Examination	Peterson, Holly	Springs, George	Video Conference
03:27:23	End of Session

	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

	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