Maryland Auto Accident Lawsuit Results in $3.1M Jury Award

A jury in Maryland has awarded more than $3 million to a woman who was severely injured in an auto accident involving an undercover police officer. 

The personal injury lawsuit was filed by Carlisa Kent, 45, alleging that she was injured when a rental car being used by Prince George’s County undercover narcotics officers crossed the centerline and struck her vehicle head-on in Calvert County, Maryland.

Kent suffered multiple broken bones and fractures, dislocations and spent three months in the hospital and another two months in a wheelchair while recovering from her injuries. According to the complaint, Kent will never fully recover.

The compensation of $3,091,291,67 awarded by the Prince George’s County Circuit Court jury will be reduced to just over $2 million pursuant to the Maryland lawsuit damage caps. However, according to a blog post by one of Kent’s attorneys, the County only carried the state minimum auto insurance of $20,000. That, combined with her own insurance, will total $50,000 and is not even enough to cover Kent’s medical expenses.

The officer driving the vehicle at the time, Robert Edward Lee, was off-duty. Had he been working, the liability limit would have been $200,000. According to the complaint, he hit the car in front of him and swerved into oncoming traffic, smashing into Kent’s car. Both Lee and Kent were so severely injured that neither of them actually remembers the accident.