Posted on Mar 22, 2006
$17 mil. for woman run down by ex-husband
March 22, 2006
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter Advertisement
To help hold her shattered pelvis in place, Rosanne Dresher wore a kind of metal Hula-Hoop with spokes piercing her midsection for two months.
Her skull was fractured, and she had two collapsed lungs and a horribly mangled right hand -- all after her ex-husband intentionally drove over her at least five times in her Glencoe driveway in July 2001.
This week, a Cook County jury awarded the 58-year-old woman $17 million, including $10 million for her pain and suffering.
The Daley Center trial lasted six days and the jury deliberated for about four hours Monday, attorneys on both sides said.
Ex-husband serving 14-yr. term
"When she was first taken to the emergency room and the trauma team converged, she was begging for them to put her out, and the trauma surgeon took that [to mean] she was begging to be put out of her agony," Dresher's attorney, Brian Lewis, said Tuesday.
Glen Dresher, the ex-husband, is serving a 14-year prison term for attempted first-degree murder and aggravated domestic battery.
During Dresher's criminal trial, the defense argued that he was mentally unstable and depressed. But prosecutors described Dresher as vicious and cowardly. They pointed out that he stopped to taunt his ex-wife as he was running her over. The couple had three children together.
Mom 'not going to pay'
During the civil trial, Glen Dresher's attorney argued that his client was legally insane when he ran her over.
"I put on the evidence," said the attorney, Lloyd Williams. "His psychiatrist and psychologist thought so."
But the jury thought otherwise.
It was unclear whether Rosanne Dresher will ever be able to collect more than a small portion of the jury's award. At trial, Glen Dresher testified that his assets totaled far less than $1 million.
"He certainly has some assets," Lewis said. "And even though he is the only son of a very wealthy mother, he claims not to have any other assets. We don't believe that."
Williams agreed that Glen Dresher has a wealthy mother, but he added, "She is not going to pay the judgment. I can tell you that."
These days, Rosanne Dresher still takes medicine for pain, but she can walk without assistance, Lewis said.
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