An attorney for the Chris Matey family says that no attempt will be made to collect more than $31 million from an 18-year-old Hailey man that a Blaine County jury decided was responsible for a 2004 vehicle accident that left Jess Matey permanently impaired.
"Despite Mark Logullo's concerns, the Mateys will not seek any money from their son beyond his insurance policy limits," attorney Robert Palmer wrote in a letter last week to the Idaho Mountain Express. Mark Logullo is the father of Sean Logullo, who the jury determined was 100 percent responsible for the accident.
"The Mateys care deeply for the Logullos and in no way want to harm or punish them," wrote Palmer, a partner in the Palmer Oliver law firm in Springfield, Mo.
Following a trial of more than two weeks duration in Blaine County 5th District Court, the jury on March 12 awarded the Mateys more than $31 million from Sean Logullo. Ford Motor Co., a co-defendant in the case, was exonerated.
Mark Logullo and his wife, Suzanne, were originally named as defendants in the lawsuit, but they were "voluntarily dropped by the Mateys" as defendants prior to the case going to the jury, Palmer wrote.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2005 following an accident on June 17, 2004, on Lower Broadford Road south of Bellevue. Sean Logullo, driving a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, lost control of the vehicle, which rolled and struck a tree, causing the Explorer's roof to collapse. Jess Matey, a passenger, suffered permanent brain injury. Both Sean Logullo and Jess Matey were 16 at the time.
"From the Mateys' point of view, Sean Logullo made a simple mistake when he lost control of his vehicle," Palmer wrote. "In this particular case, the Mateys feel very strongly that had Ford Motor Co. provided an adequately strong roof it would not have crushed in causing severe brain damage to Jess."
Palmer pointed out that the Explorer was only moving at 12 miles per hour when it struck the 7-inch diameter tree and alleged that Ford could have equipped the vehicle with a stronger roof for only $46 more in cost.
"This was totally preventable and in the Mateys' opinion Ford's responsibility," Palmer wrote.
Sean Logullo was also severely injured in the accident. Mark Logullo said last week that his son suffers minor vision loss and has occasional "memory lapses" because of the accident.
Jess Matey's parents, Chris and Pam Matey, previously lived in Hailey but now reside in Bellevue.
"This accident already ruined the life of one young man, and we don 't want it to ruin the life of another one," Chris Matey said Tuesday.
