PAULDING — A Jasper County jury has awarded a Mississippi family with one of the largest settlements in the county’s history – $131 million.

The third time was the charm for the family of a 22-year-old Mississippi man who died as a result of a 2001 accident on Interstate 10 in Florida in a Ford Explorer.

After two previous trials and two different judges, a jury selected in the First Judicial District of Jasper County returned verdicts in the case of Gregory Cole, individually and as administrator of the estate of Brian K. Cole on behalf of all wrongful death beneficiaries of Brian K. Cole, decease versus Ford Motor Company and the case of Ryan Marquis Cole, a minor, by and through Marvin Odom Cole, guardian of the person and estate of Ryan Marquis Cole.

Brian Cole died and Ryan Cole was injured on March 31, 2001 when the Ford Explorer the two males were in suffered a tire blowout, leading to a rollover accident that ejected Brian Cole from the vehicle.

According to court officials and records, the one-vehicle accident occurred on Interstate 10 near the Florida/Alabama line as the two males were traveling back to their homes in Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Brian Cole’s family claimed that the vehicle’s seat belt failed due to defective design, and argued that Ford Explorers had a tendency to rollover, particularly when a tire blowout was involved.

Ford had been arguing all along (and showing proof) that Brian Cole was not only speeding during the time of the accident, but that he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. He had been ejected from the vehicle when it rolled, possibly leading to his death in the accident. His passenger in the Ford Explorer, Ryan Cole, survived the accident, and had been wearing a seatbelt.

Jasper County Circuit Clerk Billy G. Rayner said the latest trial, which was presided over by Circuit Court Judge Billy Joe Landrum, lasted 10 days and took Jasper County jurors from Paulding to Laurel, where several days of testimony were conducted at the Jones County Courthouse. However, the case climaxed in Paulding at the Jasper County Courthouse where the jury found that the plaintiffs “proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the 2001 Ford Explorer was defectively designed so as to be unreasonably dangerous when that vehicle left Ford Motor Company” and that Ryan Cole’s “alleged injuries were proximately caused by a defect in the design of the 2001 Ford Explorer,” and that “the death of Brian Cole was proximately caused by a defect in the design of the 2001 Ford Explorer.”

For Brian Cole, the jury also assigned 100 percent of the fault to Ford Motor Company and awarded damages to the plaintiff for the lost future wages of Brian Cole, who was a 1998 18th-round draft pick of the New York Mets, in the amount of $56 million. The jury also awarded damages to the plaintiff for loss of love, society and companionship in the amount of $25 million and for the conscious pain and suffering of Brian Cole in the amount of $50 million. The total judgment was $131 million.

For Ryan Cole, the jury also assigned 100 percent of the fault to Ford Motor Company and awarded $1.5 million in damages to the plaintiff .

Along with plaintiffs’ attorneys from Miami, Fla., Little Rock, Ark., Bay Springs Attorney Thomas Tullos, represented one of the plaintiffs in the multi-million dollar case.

Tullos, who represented Ryan Cole, said his client suffered from a traumatic brain injury from the incident.

After the jury verdict,  Ford Motor Co., reached a settlement with the family of Brian Cole on the punitive damages. The undisclosed settlement came after a Jasper County jury awarded the family of Brian Cole $131 million at trial in regard to for loss of wages, pain and suffering.

According to officials, this is the third time that this case had been placed in front of a jury.

The first two juries – one in June 2004 before Circuit Court Judge Bob Evans and one in January of this year before Circuit Court Judge Billy Joe Landrum  – ending up deadlocked without coming back with a verdict.

This jury wasn’t unanimous either. However, only nine jurors needed to agree to award this judgment.

Rayner said last week’s verdict is the county’s largest.

“This is the largest jury verdict to come out of Jasper County,” Rayner said. “This case was filed in 2001, which was before tort reform.”

Tort reform refers to proposed changes in the civil justice system that would reduce tort litigation or damages.

“Tort reform did not apply to this case,” the circuit clerk said. “It was filed prior to the law going into effect.”

Mississippi passed tort reform in June 2004.

Tullos said Greg Cole, administrator of the estate of Brian Cole and the older brother of Brian Cole, lived in Rose Hill and filed the suit in Paulding in 2001.

Tullos said his client joined the suit as an intervening plaintiff.

Court officials said a portion of the trial in the case was held in Jones County because a lot of testimony in the case involved technology displays to the jury.

“We went to Jones County for several days because a lot of technical mattter had to be shown to the jury and the Paulding courthouse was not equipped for that,” Tullos said. “Jones County’s courthouse in Laurel is technologically advanced and was able to handle the things we needed. ... The citizens of Jones County should be proud of their courtroom facilities.”

Barry Ford and Bill Jones of Baker Donelson Lawfirm in Jackson defended the case with Ford’s national counsel. Calls to Ford had not been returned at press time.