A $10 million wrongful death lawsuit filed against four current and former administrators of Grafton High School was dismissed by Circuit Court Judge R. Bruce Long after a jury decided 16-year-old Christian Taylor did not commit suicide due to a depressive disorder causing him to lose control of his actions.
The central question of the case came down to whether Taylor suffered from a major depressive disorder that was brought on by alleged bullying at Grafton High School. The court asked the jurors to decide if the suicide was due to an “irresistible impulse,” meaning Taylor lost control. Under Virginia law, if someone is found to have committed suicide that was not the result of an irresistible impulse, meaning they were of sound mind, then the act was illegal. That determination nullified the contents of the suit.
Taylor, a Grafton High student, was found hanged in his bedroom on Memorial Day 2010. The suit, filed by his mother, Alise Williams, alleged the administrators did not do enough to prevent a group of boys from bullying Taylor. The boys’ alleged bullying caused Taylor to become depressed, which led to his suicide, according to the suit.
The jury’s decision punctuated three-and-a-half days of arguments from attorneys representing both sides. Williams’ attorneys spent three days making the case that former principal Paul Hopkins, former assistant principal Craig Reed, current assistant principal Karen Fahringer and guidance counselor Joseph Erfe did not do enough to stop the alleged bullying. After the plaintiff rested Thursday afternoon, Long dismissed Erfe from the suit. During the case made by Williams’ lawyers, Erfe did not testify nor was his involvement in the administrators’ response to the bullying allegations made clear.
Lawyers representing the administrators made their case Friday morning before resting around 12:30 p.m. After a lunch break, the case was turned over to a jury of seven — two of the original nine were dismissed as they had been back-up jurors in case one became sick or injured — who took about 95 minutes to decide the question of irresistible impulse.
When the decision was announced, the administrators began hugging each other and smiling. Fahringer broke into tears as family members surrounded her. The suit was filed in August 2010, and Friday’s decision concludes the latest chapter of the almost three-year legal journey the suit has undertaken. It is unclear if Friday’s decision will be appealed.
Williams, who was in court the first three days, was not present Friday.
Eileen Ryan, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, testified as an expert witness for the defense. Ryan, who reviewed depositions from the different parties of the case, as well as documents from the school and court, testified Taylor was of sound mind when he killed himself.
Ryan testified there is no evidence Taylor was psychotic or suffering from any mood disorders that could have been brought on by the alleged bullying. She also testified to Taylor being a “troubled kid,” citing his checkered upbringing that included a separation from Williams for almost three years when Williams was incarcerated in Oklahoma after having been convicted of a crime. She spoke of unstable relationships, a “chaotic home environment” and Williams’ “serious alcohol problems” as factors that contributed to his troubles.
Her testimony clashed with that of Earl Flora, a Williamsburg psychologist who served as an expert witness for Williams’ legal team during Thursday’s arguments. Flora, who like Ryan also reviewed depositions and documents, said Taylor suffered from major depressive disorder with psychotic features that were tied to his mood. He testified the bullying was the one thing that “stood out” to him when he was making his determination as to why Taylor suffered from depression. He then said the disorder caused Taylor to lose control of himself, resulting in the suicide.
Oldric LaBell, one of Williams’ attorneys, made the closing argument Friday. He asked the jury to pick between Ryan and Flora’s testimony as expert witnesses.
Throughout the first three days of the trial, Williams’ attorneys made the case that a group of boys allegedly bullied Taylor throughout the halls and cafeteria of Grafton High over the course of several weeks to a few months. Taylor, who was sent to the nurse’s office about three weeks before his suicide after a teacher noticed self-inflicted injuries on his arms from a razor blade, was said to have received comments like “emo,” “gay,” “welfare kid,” “too poor to buy clothes” and “go in the corner and cut your wrists and kill yourself.”
The administrators testified to first hearing of the alleged bullying in early May 2010. They first learned of it from Taylor and later from Taylor and one of his friends, Alec Vigil, who submitted a written note along with Taylor about the alleged bullying.
The administrators testified to creating and following through on a plan to try to stop any future bullying by shadowing Taylor in the hallways, separating the adjacent lunch tables where Taylor sat with his group of friends and the alleged bullies sat, making the alleged bullies sign behavioral contracts and calling their parents. The alleged bullies maintained they had never heard of Taylor throughout the process, and the administrators testified they were unable to find sufficient evidence the alleged bullying had occurred.
You can read about the past three days of the trial here:
