South Dakota Jury Awards $244,000 in Damages for Traffic Crash

May 6, 2009

A Hughes County, S.D., jury has awarded $244,000 in damages to a rural Pennington County woman who was injured in a traffic crash in Pierre nearly five years ago.

Jodi Mathis, 38, was injured on June 23, 2004, when her pickup truck was hit by a vehicle driven by Twyla Millin of Pierre, who had run a stop sign.

Rapid City lawyer Tim Rensch, who represented Mathis, says Millin had a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit. He says that because Millin’s insurance coverage was insufficient, Mathis also sued Progressive Insurance Co. for underinsured coverage.