Ted Buck, an attorney for Chuck and Judy Cox, the parents of missing Utah woman Susan Cox Powell and the grandparents of Susan’s sons Charlie and Braden, who were attacked and killed by their father Josh Powell in 2012 while he was under suspicion for Susan Powell’s disappearance, makes his opening arguments, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, in Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma, Wash., on the first day of a civil lawsuit over the murder of her young sons by Josh Powell. The Coxes allege that negligence by the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services was a contributing factor that led to the deaths of their grandsons. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(TACOMA, Wash.) — Attorneys for the surviving members of the Cox family were in court Tuesday, arguing that a $115-million dollar wrongful death judgement in the case should be reinstated.
A jury had awarded that amount to the estates of Charlie and Braden Powell, after the young boys were killed by their father in 2012. But the trial court judge reduced the judgement to $33-million, saying that damages cannot be punitive and the jury was prejudiced by the grisly details of the crime.
Charlie and Braden were at a supervised visit when their father, Josh Powell, locked out the social worker and attacked the boys with a hatchet. Powell, who as a suspect in the disappearance of the boys’ mother, Susan Cox-Powell, then set the house on fire before killing himself.
“The jury was asked to consider the pain, suffering, anxiety, emotional distress, humiliation and fear that these boys experienced as a result of the manner in which they were murdered,” Attorney Shelby Lemmel argued in front of the Division II Court of Appeals on Tuesday.
But the State is also appealing the case, saying there numerous errors during jury instruction that warrant a new trial.
It’s unclear when the appellate judges might rule.
