http://www.gunlawsuits.org/docket/casestatus.php?RecordNo=80
Maxfield v. Bryco Arms, et al., Superior Court of the State of California, Alameda County
On May 7, 2003, a jury awarded $50.9 million in compensatory damages to a plaintiff in a case against Saturday-Night Special manufacturer Bryco Arms.
The jury found gun designer Bruce Jennings, manufacturer Bryco Arms and its distributors liable for designing a defective firearm which resulted in the paralysis of a seven year old. Bryco Arms manufactures �Saturday Night Special .380-caliber Bryco handguns, which were found to be unreasonably dangerous due to their lack of safety features and defective design.
Brandon Maxfield was unintentionally shot in the jaw on April 6, 1994, by a family friend who was trying to unload the handgun. The gun was designed in such a way that it could only be unloaded when the safety was turned off. The gun's magazine was also designed to be hidden inside the gun, making it hard to tell if it was loaded. The friend thought he had unloaded the gun and unintentionally shot Brandon. Brandon was rendered a quadriplegic. If the handgun had been properly designed and manufactured with sufficient safety features, the accident would not have occurred.
The manufacturer and designer of the gun, Bryco Arms and Bruce Jennings, as well as the guns� distributors, the pawnshop where Brandon's parents bought the gun, and Brandon's parents and the shooter were also held liable. The jury concluded that Bryco Arms manufactured a defective firearm because of its design features and that it was foreseeable that an ordinary consumer would be injured by the defective handgun.
The Legal Action Project has assisted in the case since its inception. Richard Ruggieri, of San Rafael, California is counsel for the plaintiff.