John Ritter Verdict: Defense Lawyer Says 'The System Worked at a Celebrity Trial'

Posted by Matthew Heller

Was Friday's defense verdict in the John Ritter wrongful-death trial an example of a jury that did not get carried away by sympathy for a celebrity? "The system worked at a celebrity trial in Los Angeles, California," defense counsel Stephen Fraser told KNBC-TV after the Superior Court jury found that two physicians were not liable for Ritter's death at a Burbank hospital in September 2003.

It was a close verdict, however -- the minimum nine out of the 12-member jury voted in favor of cardiologist Dr. Joseph Lee and radiologist Matthew Lotysch. Ritter's widow, Amy Yasbeck, and his four children had been seeking some $67 million, representing an estimate of what he would have earned from his sitcom "8 Simple  Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" if he hadn't died of an undiagnosed arterial condition.

Jury forewoman Adriana Goad told the AP that the panel "all fell in love with John Ritter and his family during the trial. What an amazing man." But she also said jurors "felt very strongly that neither Dr. Lotysch nor Dr. Lee did anything wrong in this case."

Much of the trial involved a clash of medical experts, with Ritter's side saying the defendants were negligent in treating Ritter for a heart attack instead of an aortic dissection after he collapsed on the set of "8 Simple Rules."

But in his closing argument, Fraser questioned the plaintiffs' strategy of calling Henry "The Fonz" Winkler and actress Katey Segal to the stand. "This is a show business case in many respects," he said. "You know darn well why Henry Winkler was the first witness they called."

Comments

[George]

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