Date: 02-07-2006

Case Style: Amy McQuillin v. Carlos Perez

Case Number: 2001-0194-CA-17

Judge: Robert Hawley

Court: 19th Circuit Court, Indian River County, Florida

Plaintiff's Attorney:

L.H. Steven Savola, The Ferraro Law Firm, Coral Gables, Florida

Defendant's Attorney: Defendant Defaulted - Attorneys of record until June 2005: Louis Vocelle, Jr., Charles Sullivan, Vero Beach, Florida

Description:

In March 1999, plaintiff Amy McQuillin, 32, who worked for State Farm, was visiting her family at their vacation home in Vero Beach. Former pro baseball player Gilberto Reyes, a longtime family friend, was staying at the McQuillin home. One night, Reyes invited pro baseball pitcher Carlos Perez, who was in town for Los Angeles Dodgers' spring training as he had recently signed a three-year contract, to the McQuillin home.

Reyes and Perez decided to play pool later on that evening at a hotel that was a couple of blocks from the McQuillin home. Perez drove Reyes to the hotel to hold the pool table and coaxed McQuillin into the car to ride along, promising to bring her directly back to the house. After dropping Reyes off, Perez drove by the McQuillin home and told her he wanted to go back to his Indian River Shores apartment to change clothes instead. McQuillin alleged that, once inside his home, Perez raped her.

She did not want to report the rape to the police, fearing the publicity and because she knew many people in the Dodgers organization and in the Los Angeles media. (McQuillin once worked for the Dodgers public relations office and for their television station as a production assistant.)

McQuillin returned to her home in Columbus, Ohio, where the Vero Beach police contacted her in May 1999 after another woman, who came forward with similar allegations that Perez raped her in March 1999, told them she thought McQuillin had been raped as well. McQuillin gave a formal statement to the police about the alleged rape and was prepared to testify. The police never questioned Perez during the investigation process, though they said they intended to. But ultimately, the district attorney decided not to go forward with the case based on her belief that it would be too difficult to prosecute. Once the criminal case fell apart and McQuillin learned of the two other alleged Perez victims, she decided to bring a civil suit against Perez for sexual assault.

Perez, who was released from the Dodgers in May 2001, has since moved back to his native Dominican Republic where he continues to play baseball with hopes of securing a contract in the U.S. He never appeared at trial and had previously denied her allegation. A default judgment was entered against him on liability and the trial proceeded on damages.

After asserting that Perez stopped cooperating and communicating with them, Perez's attorneys for the four years before trial, Louis Vocelle Jr. and Charles Sullivan, were allowed to withdraw from the case in June 2005.

Outcome: Plaintiff's veridict for $15,000,000 McQuillin's attorney sought past and future pain and suffering and suggested to the jury that it consider $100 an hour for the first two years after her rape, $50 for the next three years after her rape and then $10 an hour for the rest of her life for the next 30 years, which totalled $5,969,280. Her attorney contended that asking for $100 an hour wasn't as outrageous at it might seem, considering that Perez had signed a three-year pitching contract for $15 million. He noted that if the jury broke down his contract by what he was getting paid per game, then $100 an hour for her pain and suffering didn't seem unreasonable, and that the hourly rate was decreased reasonably as time went by. PUNITIVE DAMAGES McQillin's attorney moved for punitive damages pretrial, which the judge granted. He asked the jury to award punitive damages in an amount that was the difference between compensatory damages sought and Perez's $15 million contract. He argued that punitive damages were warranted based not only on McQuillin's allegations, but the rape allegations of two other victims: another in Florida in 1999 and one in Atlanta in 1995. These two women testified by videotape at the trial. Perez was arrested for the Atlanta rape and freed on bond. The case was bound over to a superior court but Perez was never brought back to face the charges. In 2000 a flight attendant also alleged that Perez assaulted her on a team charter flight. McQuillin's attorney argued that the $15 million judgment was warranted for total damages because Perez's contract and the lifestyle it provided allowed him to commit the alleged acts.

Plaintiff's Experts: Rape Trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Darla Bolan, psychotherapy, Columbus, OH

Leisa Clymer, Ph.D., psychology/counseling, Columbus, OH

Dean Kilpatrick, Ph.D., psychology, Charleston, SC

Defendant's Experts: None

Comments: None