SCOTX Wipes Out $116M Judgment Against Werner in Fatal Crash Case 

A case that began 11 years ago with a fatal crash on an icy stretch of highway near Odessa was ended Friday by the Texas Supreme Court when the justices issued an opinion wiping out a more than $100 million verdict against trucking company Werner Enterprises and its driver. 

A Harris County jury had awarded $92 million, plus interest, to Jennifer Blake, who on Dec. 30, 2014, was a passenger with her three children in a pickup truck Trey Salinas was driving on Interstate 20 during a National Weather Service winter storm warning. Salinas lost control of his pickup, careened across a 42-foot-wide grass median and hit the 18-wheeler driven by Shiraz Ali, which was traveling at about 50 miles per hour, according to court documents. The crash killed 7-year-old Zachery and left Blake’s 12-year-old daughter a quadriplegic.