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The family of deceased UT student Johnny Flobeck won a $79 million wrongful death suit Tuesday against former UT student Ryan Grady, who is in prison for killing Flobeck.
In 2002, Grady was charged with murder and assault for striking Flobeck on the head with the Club, a hooked metal steering wheel lock, in the parking lot of the Melrose Apartments complex off of Riverside, now named Campus Estates apartments.
The jury acquitted Grady of murder charges but convicted him of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and he was sentenced to four years in prison in April 2004.
The Flobeck family, through attorneys Randy and Kristin Bays, brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Grady immediately following his conviction. District Judge Jon Wisser presided over the one-day trial on Tuesday, which ended up being a one-man show, according to Kristin Bays.
"Grady was supposed to represent himself, but nobody from the Grady side appeared for the trial or merited any attention to this case," Bays said. "That, along with the fact that he has never apologized to the Flobecks, was the main factor involved in Wisser's decision to grant such a large and symbolic amount of damages."
Grady now faces what could be a life economic sentence. The wrongful death damages imposed rang up at $8 million, while the punitive damages were $71 million, an amount that Bays said the Flobecks never expect to be paid.
"We will hold Grady accountable to his debt," Bays said. "Other than a few protected items like a house, Grady will never be able to purchase something without us seizing it, and there is nowhere he can move that we can't follow him. If he ever decides to buy a dirt bike, we will seize it as soon as we know of it."
People facing large civil suit judgments often declare bankruptcy and escape their debts, added Bays, but bankruptcy law prohibits someone from filing if they intentionally, willfully or maliciously injured another person. Bays said Grady has a few years before his economic woes begin, as he is in the Gist State Jail facility in Beaumont.
On the night of Flobeck's death, Grady was accompanied by his roommate, Jared Espree, who will also be dealing with a monetary debt to the Flobecks as a result of his involvement.
Espree agreed to a $23 million out-of-court settlement with the Flobecks - but with a twist. The $23 million in damages will be waived if Espree upholds his end of an agreement to pay the Flobeck family $40,000.
On Tuesday, Judge Wisser signed off on the requirements for Espree to pay the Flobecks $500 a month for five years, followed by a final payment of $10,000.
"Jared Espree will have a monthly reminder of this tragedy hanging over his head for the next five years," Bays said.
Witnesses testified that Espree punched Flobeck during the altercation, but he has not faced criminal charges.
During Grady's criminal trial, the prosecution introduced graphic photos of Flobeck's injuries, taken at Brackenridge Hospital the morning the 19-year-old mechanical engineering student died. About two inches of the hook-ended bottom half of the Club was stuck inside Flobeck's skull and was still lodged in his head when he arrived at the hospital.
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