This was just so odd I had to post it...

http://biz.yahoo.com/law/060210/709e66e87859a0a0077dadb110435849.html?.v=1

Law.com
Jury: Flying Shrimp Didn't Kill Diner
Friday February 10, 3:01 am ET
Andrew Harris, New York Law Journal

A jury Thursday rejected a widow's claim that her husband's death was caused by a piece of hot shrimp playfully tossed at him by a Japanese steakhouse chef.

The jury of five men and one woman deliberated for barely two hours before rendering the unanimous verdict, ending the 16-day trial of Estate of Colaitis v. Benihana Inc., 015439-2002, before Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Roy S. Mahon.

ADVERTISEMENT
The family of furrier Jerry Colaitis of Old Brookville, N.Y., 47, claimed he had sustained a neck injury while dining with his family at the Benihana steakhouse in nearby Munsey Park. The injury required corrective surgery. A post-operative complication Mr. Colaitis died from a blood-borne infection.

The case, filed in 2002, asserted that were it not for the negligence of the Benihana chef, Mr. Colaitis would still be alive. The complaint contained causes of action for wrongful death, conscious pain and suffering, and loss of consortium, a claim brought on behalf of Mr. Colaitis' surviving wife, Jacqueline.

In his summation, plaintiffs counsel Andre L. Ferenzo of Roslyn asked the jury for $16 million in damages.

After the verdict, defense attorney Charles X. Connick of Garden City, N.Y., said that "the jury did the right thing."

At trial, Connick had presented evidence that during the last year of his life, Mr. Colaitis had been afflicted by fevers of an unknown origin that had nothing to do with the surgery.

Outside the courtroom, Ferenzo appeared stunned.

"It's inconceivable that they could have found there was no wrongdoing," he said.

Moments earlier, Ferenzo had asked Mahon to set aside the verdict on the grounds that it was against the weight of the evidence.

That motion was denied.

Standing nearby, Ms. Colaitis said she was disappointed.

"I thought we had a very good case," she said.

The jury disagreed.

Jurors Dennis Ezzo of Levittown, N.Y., and Elizabeth Cardito of Malaverne, N.Y., said jointly after the verdict that their hearts went out to Ms. Colaitis and her family. Cardito called it an emotionally difficult case.

But Ezzo said, "The evidence did not show that Benihana was responsible."

Benihana is nationally known for its hibachi-style cooking where diners typically sit arrayed around three sides of a rectangular wooden table at the center of which is a hot metal grill. The chef, standing on the fourth side, rapidly slices and cooks food in hot oil poured on the grill.

Ever since Chinese martial arts expert and comic actor Jackie Chan was portrayed performing similar stunts as a celebrity TV chef by tossing hot food at his patrons in the 1997 movie "No More Mr. Nice Guy," the practice had gained popularity at Benihana. It was part of the show, both lawyers said in their opening statements last month.

"That's why people go there," Connick had said.

On Jan. 27, 2001, Mr. Colaitis, his wife Jacqueline and his two sons and others went to the Munsey Park location of the popular eatery to celebrate one of the boy's birthdays.

According to testimony given by Ms. Colaitis, the sons, Christos and John Alexander, and at least two other members of the dinner party had been struck and burned by pieces of food tossed by the unidentified chef. After the second burning, Mr. Colaitis asked the chef to stop.

Instead, the chef allegedly flung one more piece of shrimp at Mr. Colaitis' head. Jerking away from it, he wrenched two vertebrae in his neck. He had the first operation six months later.

'IS IT CONCEIVABLE TO YOU?'

In his summation, Ferenzo reiterated his theory that events at Benihana "set in motion an unbroken chain ... and ultimately caused" Mr. Colaitis' death.

But Connick told the jury, "I scratch my head and wonder, is it conceivable to you?"

Interviewed later, he questioned "the mechanics of the injury," and wondered why nobody from the dinner party complained if the chef's behavior was offensive.

Ten different expert witnesses testified during the trial, which started on Jan. 11, including two specialists in neurology and two in infectious diseases. Ferenzo also presented testimony from an ear, nose and throat doctor, a chiropractor, an internist and a pathologist.

Other plaintiffs' witnesses said that Mr. Colaitis had a life expectancy of 77 and that he would have earned nearly $6 million more had he lived.

Toru Hasegawa, head chef at the Munsey Park restaurant also took the stand and conceded that the practice of tossing hot food could be dangerous for patrons. The practice has been discontinued.

Nevertheless, Connick reminded jurors in his closing that there was no evidence of diners having been hurt previously.

Neither side impleaded any of the doctors who had operated on Mr. Colaitis or treated him. He died on Nov. 22, 2001, two days after he was admitted to St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, N.J., with a fever that spiked to 109.7 degrees, touching off a systemic organ failure that was ultimately fatal.

In his post-verdict interview, Ferenzo said that nothing in the medical records suggested that any of the treating doctors had erred.

In charging the jury about negligence, Mahon had told them that there needed to be "a reasonably foreseeable danger of injury," an injury that he said was "not merely possible, but probable."

Ferenzo said that an appeal is unlikely.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.