McCaskill & Jury Find for Injured Man in Lawsuit

(AP) – Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill did something Wednesday that her congressional colleagues in Washington have found elusive – she reached a consensus, even if it was during her first-ever stint on a jury.
The Democratic former prosecutor and 11 other jurors sided with a 51-year-old St. Louis County man, Leotis Tate, in his negligence lawsuit against QuikTrip Corp. over his 2014 tumble outside one of the company’s convenience stores.
The jurors awarded Tate $45,000 in damages, but he’ll only get $33,750 because they deemed him to be 25 percent at fault. Each side must pay its own attorney fees.
McCaskill, who gushed on Twitter on Monday about how being picked for a jury was astonishing and a lifelong dream, said Wednesday that hearing and deciding the case left her “feeling empowered.”
“Everyone (on the jury) had very different perspectives and different viewpoints, a lot like Congress,” she told The Associated Press by telephone after hustling back to Washington. “Instead of retreating to corners, everyone listened to each other. People were willing to compromise.