Jury awards family $745 million in wrongful death lawsuit
By Kalie Strain
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A St. Louis jury has awarded the family of a woman killed in a 2020 crash $745 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Marissa Politte was killed on Oct. 18. 2020, after Trenton Geiger, 22, passed out behind the wheel and hit her as she was leaving her job at Total Access Urgent Care on Clarkson Road.
The lawsuit was brought against Geiger, Coughing Cardinal and United Brands.
According to court documents, the jury found the relative fault between the defendants as follows:
Trenton Geiger: 10% Coughing Cardinal: 20% United Brands: 70%
Court documents show that the jury found that the jury found that United Brands owed the family compensatory damages for this wrongful death based on negligence and product defect. The jury also found Coughing Cardinal owed the family damages due to negligence and product defect.
Court documents went on to say that the jury found total compensatory damages against United Brands at $20 million and damages for aggravating circumstances against United Brand at $700 million.
The jury found damages for aggravating circumstances against Coughing Cardinal at $25 million.
Geiger was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to three felonies and one misdemeanor in March 2023.
“This case shows how hard intoxication by drugs other than alcohol can be to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, given the current state of toxicology science,” said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell at the time of the sentencing. “Though no number of years in prison can ever compensate for the tragic loss of a life, this young man has taken responsibility for his criminal negligence and will serve time, and Ms. Politte’s loved ones have some closure.”
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