r/houston•
AzEBeast

Verdict returned in Kacy Clemens and Connor Caple case against downtown bar. (Roger Clemens son and godson, respectively)

Last week was the jury trial for Kacy Clemens and Connor Caple vs. Concrete Cowboy, which is a bar downtown. Kacy and Connor were at the bar on new years 2019, when they were assaulted by the owner of the bar and/or staff of Concrete Cowboy. Both were pretty severely beaten, Connor had a fractured skull after being hit in the head with flashlight. Both are minor league baseball players and there was some testimony put on that the appearance the whole situation gives, though not necessarily the injuries, could effect their careers.

 

After hearing evidence Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the jury heard closing arguments Friday morning and began deliberations. They returned a verdict around 6 P.M. The verdict totaled 3.24 million dollars. Kacy was awarded 960k and Connor was awarded 2.28 million. Plaintiffs did not ask for past medical expenses. The bulk of the award for both was for mental anguish in the future.

 

I was following the trial all week as the courts in Harris County live stream their proceedings. I am also an attorney. I'm happy to discuss further, though I don't know every detail of the case.

Posted Feb 8, 2021, 4:01 PM UTC

1718
onsite84•

I assume they had some top notch lawyers?

9
AzEBeastOP•

The attorney for the Plaintiffs was Randy Sorrels. He is well known, and I believe at one point he was president of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association.

I'm not familiar with the defense attorneys. One was Kent Adams, who according some of my more experienced colleagues is a good lawyer and well respected on both sides. The other attorney was Claire Parsons, who I'm not familiar with. The defense attorney's are hired by the insurance company on behalf of the Defendant

8
Stros884•

Randy was also past president of Houston Bar Association and State Bar of Texas. He's pretty good.

2
AzEBeastOP•

That’s probably what I was thinking of. Either way he is well known and respected among Plaintiffs lawyers as well as Defense

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
AzEBeastOP•

I’m pretty sure Mr. Sorrells worked on contingency as do most personal injury attorneys. Meaning he doesn’t bill but he gets a portion of the settlement or judgment. So anyone could hire him if they do wished

1
pegmeamadeus•

This is a really interesting case, just from alliteration alone

9
CrazyLegsRyan•

I concur on catching the compelling consonance

9

What's your take given the testimony, why were they assaulted? I vaguely recall this but not any facts.

Do you think the verdict is large? Mental anguish? Shit, that is good money for an ass-kicking. A lot of people get roughed up without getting millions for future stress.

8
AzEBeastOP•

Why? I'm not sure. The defense testimony is too confusing to say why. They argued that Clemens and Caple fought each other, and others and had to be forced to leave. However, the owner of the bar, who is the person accused of assaulting them, says he never saw them and was not aware they were at the bar prior to them being thrown out. So, which is it? Were they being uncivil or did you not know anything and not do it? I missed most of Kacy and Connor's testimony so I'm not sure what they said the reason was. I think it had something to do with another table being asked to leave, then they somehow got pointed out as being part of that group and as a result were assaulted since they weren't leaving.

Well the verdict is objectively large. I think there are two main things the jury probably weighed heavily when awarding that amount. 1) Connor had a fractured skull as a result, and may have long term damage to his sinuses. 2) The owner of the bar was untrustworthy and quite frankly scummy. There is also the consideration of them being potential pro baseball players and this effecting their potential earnings by preventing them from reaching the majors. Also, I genuinely believe Connor is still traumatized by the event to this day. He was very choked up recalling the events and their potential impact on his life/career.

There were several times during his testimony that the owner of the bar was called out for blatantly misrepresenting fact or was being purposefully obtuse and refusing to acknowledge the wrong that was committed, even in general. For instance, the owner had another bar in Chicago. The bar was shut down. The owner said,"It was shut down due to Covid". However, the records show that the license was forfeited based on violence at the bar, overcrowding, and violence by staff. The owner then said that he could have appealed it but due to Covid he didn't have the funds to appeal it. Which is just BS, and a willful misrepresentation as to why the bar was shut down. Another time, Mr. Sorrels was asking if it is the policy of the bar to put people in chokeholds or throw them out face first into the concrete. The owner refused to state that this was not appropriate. Instead he said something like, "Well, I don't know there may be a circumstance that I'm not thinking of, so I don't want to rule anything out."

Lastly I think one of the biggest missteps was the Defense attorney trying to minimize Plaintiffs' injuries. I believe he argued Connor just had a "bloody nose and some cuts". That didn't sit right with me and I hope/imagine the jury felt the same.

6
CrazyLegsRyan•

Why did they say the Concrete Cowboy is downtown?

7
AzEBeastOP•

That’s my fault. I just assumed it was downtown since the location isn’t super important

1
CrazyLegsRyan•

It is if you’re familiar with the area. The bars along Washington are filled with young entitled 20somethings that invite a certain amount of trouble.

6
Inthe713Cypress•

as the courts in Harris County live stream their proceedings

Damn I had no idea....gonna have to check out some trials.

2
gybe1977•

With these big verdicts can’t defendant file bankruptcy to avoid paying?

2
AzEBeastOP•

Their insurance will pay all or part of this. Their insurance fucked up and thought they could defend this suit and would never pay more than their limits, 1,000,000 in this case. Typically an insurance doesn’t pay over limits even when a judgment is rendered, the difference is owed by the defendant. Unless you Stowerize the defense.

Basically a stowers letter just says that a reasonable insurance company would tender policy limits in this case. If you fail to do so you are acting unreasonable and courts have held you will be liable for any judgment in excess of policy limits for your unreasonableness

4
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
wessneijder•

I don't understand why anyone would want to stay in a bar after being asked to leave. Not justifying the people assaulting these baseball players. Just saying even if it's a case of mistaken identity, if I'm asked to leave I wouldn't have a good time staying after the fact. There's hundreds of bars in midtown, just pick another one.

-4
AzEBeastOP•

I don’t believe they were asked to leave. A group they were not with was asked to leave and then when Connor and Kacy didn’t leave because they didn’t know they were assaulted

5