 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
|
FAMILY OF NAVY MAN MURDERED BY HEZBOLLAH AWARDED $321 MILLION IN DAMAGES BY US DISTRICT COURT On April 19, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the US District Court in the District of Columbia issued a decision and order in Stethem v. the Islamic Republic of Iran awarding the family of Robbie Stethem more than $321 million in damages. Piper Rudnick LLP represented the family of Robbie Stethem, a young Navy diver from Waldorf, Maryland who in 1985 while aboard TWA flight 847 was brutally beaten and murdered by Hezbollah hijackers supported by Iran. Punitive damages of $300 million were awarded. Each parent was awarded $5 million in solatium damages while each of the three siblings was awarded $3 million in solatium damages, $500,000 more than siblings in precedent cases. Robbie Stethem's estate was awarded approximately $2.4 million, including approximately $1.5 million for his pain and suffering. Congress has set aside funds for the payment of the compensatory damages portion ($21.5 million) of this and several other similar cases, out of frozen Iranian assets.
|
