Times staff
Thursday, December 16, 2010
TAMPA — A court case that has been going on for more than a dozen years —— and that ultimately could be the biggest civil jury award ever against the city of Tampa — will go on even longer, the Florida Supreme Court decided Thursday.
Justices sent the case back to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, where the court will hear additional arguments by the city for a new trial and that the jury's award was excessive.
The case dates to Nov. 26, 1996, the day that Ramiro G. Companioni's motorcycle slammed into the back of a city water department truck on Hillsborough Avenue near 50th Street.
He argued that the truck caused the crash by veering across three lanes of traffic.
Companioni, once a successful chef, learned to walk again after nearly having his legs amputated. His right knee was fused and he ...