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A New Jersey driver who was arrested by a trooper who thought she was drunk when she was really having a stroke — delaying urgent medical care by hours — has been awarded nearly $13 million.
Cheryl Lynn Rhines, 48, had pulled over on Route 78 in Florham Park while having a stroke on Oct. 17, 2017, while heading to work in Jersey City on Oct. 17, 2017, according to her lawsuit against New Jersey State Police obtained by NJ.com.
When a trooper found her 30 minutes later, Rhines had vomit on her face and was unable to answer questions beyond “yes” or “no.”
Her face was drooping and she was unable to control her body and motor functions — but the trooper accused her of “playing games” and arrested her, according to the lawsuit.
The arresting officer’s “conduct was so outrageous in character and so extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency and is regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community,” the suit states.
“Any ordinary human being observing Cheryl Rhines would have immediately recognized and called for emergent medical care.”
Instead, it took more than two hours for someone at the police station to finally recognize she was having a medical emergency and call an ambulance to take her to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Somerset.
Rhines and her mother blame the delay in treatment on her suffering “the death of significant brain function and permanent lifelong disability” from the stroke, according to the Independent.
She can no longer work and requires around-the-clock care.
A jury trial in January found the state police at fault.
Rhines was initially awarded $19.1 million — $5 million for pain and suffering, $6 million for emotional distress, $6.5 million for medical care and $1.6 million for lost income.
However, the final judgment was reduced by 40% due to her pre-existing condition, NJ.com reported.
Additional medical expenses of $349,807.96 and other related costs of $1,075,095.06 were added, bringing the final payment to about $12.9 million.
The state had unsuccessfully argued that officers acted in accordance with their training.
