THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160252
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
A good Samaritan who helped police rescue an accident victim on a busy highway, then was killed by a speeding car, is entitled to death benefits from the city under Workers' Compensation, an appeals court has ruled.
Under a rarely used doctrine that dates to 13th century England, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the young woman, Joye Compton-Waldrop, was a temporary city employee at the accident scene because an auxiliary police officer had ordered her to help him.
That means the woman's 5-year-old daughter, her sole survivor, is entitled to either $50,500 or $225,500 in death benefits, depending on how the state Workers' Compensation Commission views her case.
This is the first time a Virginia court has ruled on such a claim, said the family's attorney, Michael A. Kernbach of Fairfax.
The city attorney's office declined to comment Wednesday, saying it had not seen the ruling.
The case arose from a tragic accident that killed two good Samaritans near the toll plaza of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway on Aug. 31, 1991.
Two cars collided on the highway at 4:30 a.m. An off-duty auxiliary police officer, George W. Starr, 25, pulled over and tried to rescue the victims.
At the same time, Compton-Waldrop, a 29-year-old pizza-store manager, was returning home from work with her fiance. They, too, pulled over to help.
The auxiliary officer directed three passers-by, including Compton-Waldrop and her fiance, to help him. He asked the fiance to point his car lights onto the accident scene and take a flashlight and reflective vest to alert oncoming drivers.
He told Compton-Waldrop to help him with an injured man lying in the roadway. ``Ma'am, come here,'' Starr said. ``I need some help with this man.''
As Compton-Waldrop walked onto the highway, a car sped by at about 85 mph, crashing into her and Starr, killing both. The driver, 19-year-old Sean Armao, had been drinking. Later, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
After the crash, Compton-Waldrop's family - her 1-year-old daughter and her parents in South Carolina - filed a claim for death benefits with the Workers' Compensation Commission. They claimed Compton-Waldrop was an ``emergency employee'' who had been ``deputized'' to help at the scene.
The city denied the claim, as did a compensation commissioner in Norfolk and the full commission in Richmond.
But on Tuesday, a three-judge appeals panel ruled that the family was right all along.
Judge Sam W. Coleman III wrote that under the doctrine of posse comitatus, Compton-Waldrop could not have refused the auxiliary officer's demand for help. If she had, she would have been guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Posses comitatus are rarely used in modern-day cities, Coleman wrote, but the doctrine goes back to 13th century England.
Coleman cited a 1942 New Mexico court ruling that said, ``The occasion for resorting to the posse comitatus has diminished greatly. Nevertheless, the power is there. The sheriff may make the call and the citizen will ignore it at his peril.''
In Virginia Beach, the City Council has designated auxiliary police officers as city employees for purposes of Workers' Compensation.
Therefore, the court ruled, ``We hold that when Officer Starr required Compton-Waldrop to assist him with the emergency rescue, thereby placing her in harm's way, she became an ad hoc member of the Virginia Beach Auxiliary Police Department.''
The court ordered her family's claim back to the compensation commission ``for entry of an award.''
The death benefit for unpaid employees is $50,500, plus funeral expenses, Kernbach said. For paid employees, it is $225,500, plus expenses. Kernbach said he will fight for the higher amount.
Starr's family already has received $50,500 from Workers' Compensation, Kernbach said. Also, the families of both victims filed lawsuits against Armao, withdrew them, and will refile them, Kernbach said.
In addition, Compton-Waldrop's family has won an undisclosed cash settlement from the Navy, Kernbach said. They sued the Navy because Armao, a 19-year-old Navy sailor, had been drinking at a bar at Oceana Naval Air Station before the crash. A similar lawsuit by Starr's family against the Navy is pending. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Joyce Compton-Waldrop was a temporary city employee and, thus,
entitled, the court said.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITIES DRUNKEN DRIVING
ARREST LAWSUIT by CNB