Ski crash model's own fault, jury finds
A federal jury found yesterday that Sarah Walker, an aspiring model and ski instructor, was mostly to blame for a skiing accident at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, N.H., and refused to award her any money for injuries she said had derailed her modeling career.
''I think it was a matter of wrong place, wrong time," said jury foreman John Sheehan of Walpole, who was surprised that a skiing accident had evolved into a federal case.
After two hours of deliberations, jurors found Walker was 95 percent responsible for a collision with Megan Lowry, 16, of Boxford, on Jan. 27, 2003, while Lowry was only 5 percent at fault.
Earlier, US District Magistrate Judge Robert Collings dismissed Walker's negligence claim against Lowry's parents, Nancy and Daniel Lowry.
Walker, 25, testified she was skiing down an expert slope when she came over a crest and collided with Lowry, who was crossing the trail while skiing with her parents and two brothers. Walker, who suffered facial and leg injuries that left her with a scar on her face and a limp, said that Lowry failed to look before crossing.
But Lowry's brother, Christopher, 14, who was snowboarding behind his sister, testified that Walker was airborne and skiing very fast at the time of the crash.
Daniel Lowry said the jury's verdict ''confirms what we knew all along. [Walker] was skiing recklessly that day. As much as you feel sorry for her injuries, they are of her own doing."
Walker voiced disbelief that jurors found her 95 percent responsible. ''I don't think it was fair," she said.
Jurors refused to award money to Walker, who had signed a modeling contract three months before the accident and testified she can no longer get work as a model because of her injuries. 