September 23, 2025 • 34 mins
Callers join the conversation as Dan provides more insights from behind the scenes of his historic $200 million court case victory.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplas Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform. Let's all keep fighting,
and thank you to everybody who did this show and
did it so well. When I was in trial, Erica
(00:24):
just reminded me, pardon me, Alexi, I'm thinking of Erica
kerk Alexa just reminded me through a text. I haven't
been on air since August eighteenth, as I went into
the final two weeks of trial prep, and we've been
prepping for this trial for years, went into the final
two weeks of trial prep, and then week after week
after week of trial up in Garfield County District Court
(00:46):
in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and I've been in trial for
so many weeks, and Sheriff Steve Reims and George Brockler
and Heidi Gannall and Christy Burton Brown and Matt Don
and of course Ryan and Kelly all did such a
great job with the show that literally my key cart
did net work today. But so thank you for letting
(01:06):
me in, Kelly, appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Then, in the time that I've known you, Dan and
worked with you, and this is date's back now almost
seven complete calendar years, I believe this is the longest
contiguous time you've been away from this program.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
The longest before I think had been a week. Yeah,
maybe yeah, maybe a week.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
No.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
It was so strange, and it was so strange to
be away. But everybody listening can relate to an example
from their own lives. We were in such a deep
trial bubble, usually about three hours sleep a night on
a good night, maybe four and a half. But everybody
on the team, you know, Barbara Waheid, Carrie Jones Stoole,
and our managing partner, John Kellner, who's a phenomenal trial lawyer,
(01:45):
as well as everybody else on the team, and Sabrina Robinson,
Caroline Kaplis, who's on every one of my trial teams.
It was just total immersion. And all I can say
is literally, thank you God, Thank you God. I really
felt throughout this trial that it was a god thing.
I mean, were there were so many times I just
and for those who don't like this talk, I get it.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
But it's real.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
There were just so many times I I just felt
like my guardian angel, holy spirit whatever was helping me,
and it was and to us and the cause, and
it just felt very much like a god thing. And
I can say that without any hesitation because our side
was just and it was right, and we were blessed
(02:28):
with this incredibly intelligent, hardworking, rigorous jury. I think in
the end they sent out fifty eight questions during the
course of the case, highly intelligent questions, and we were
just blessed with a hard working jury that followed the
facts to a just verdict and the truth was told
and lives will be saved because of this verdict, and
(02:49):
amusement parks will operate more safely because of this verdict.
They're not going to want a two hundred and five
million dollar verdict against them, so when it becomes too
expensive to do it dangerously, you know a lot of
parks around the country will do it safely. And so
it was the epitome of justice, not because of any
involvement I had. I was privileged to be lead counsel,
(03:11):
but I was still a small cog in.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
A much bigger effort.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
And it's just it was so incredibly like, after forty
one years of doing this, it was so incredibly fulfilling
to see these parents. From a small village in Ethiopia,
they come to America, they work hard, they're blessed with
this beautiful little daughter. As her father testified on the standings,
thank you God for trusting me with this girl. And
(03:35):
he worked so hard to buy a house with a
yard where she could play and grow up. And then
they drove four hours to take her to this amusement
park outside of Glenwood Springs and then she's dropped ten
stories to her death. One minute, he's the happiest mom
and dad in the world. The next minute their daughter
is brutally, brutally killed at the bottom of a mine shaft.
(03:58):
And that park never admitted fault. And they fought for
years and years and years, and they took it and
they trusted a jury in Garfield County, and Lord knows
they should have because you will never see a more intelligent, rational,
hard working jury than that.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
And justice was done.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And to see the parents, because you know, we're sitting
next to them as the verdicts read at six thirty
on a Friday night, and to see them start sobbing
as the verdicts read and the jury has followed the
facts to the truth and returns a just verdict and
then makes.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Clear the value of their daughter and her life.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
And then hands down a punitive damages award of one
hundred and twenty three million that will send the message
as punitive damages are intended to do to this park
and parks around the country, and it will save lives.
That's man, that's an epitome. And it was such a
privilege just to be a small part of that. So
thank you to all of you for holding down the fort.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Yes, quick question.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
So I know from talking to you about these things
over the years, you're never quite sure until that jury
comes back with the verdict. So that being said as
a predicate to this, was there a point in the trial.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That you cite with your team, etc.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Where you really felt there was a definitive turning point
in your favor.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I thought that there were so many great questions, Ryan.
I thought that the testimony of the lead investigator for
the State of Colorado that started the trial was so
enormous because both sides can have paid experts right, and
some are right and some are wrong, and we don't
bring him in unless they're right. But he's not a
(05:37):
paid expert. He's working for the people the state of Colorado,
and the State of Colorado did a tremendous investigation of
this horrible death and put a ton of resources into it.
The whole world was watching, right, and I'm sure they
would have anyway, but there was worldwide attention on this
horrible death, and the State of Colorado did a great investigation.
And when that investigator was done with his testimony, a
(06:00):
man named.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Scott Narrow, that was it.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
That was it.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I mean, that's the truth. And there's a video and
he testified. He explained how Colorado law works. You have
to follow the safety procedures in the manufacturer. Here's the video.
Look what happens, Look what doesn't. But I thought his
testimony was critical. But there were so many important witnesses
and crosses, and yeah, I just think.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
That I just think that was absolutely a key moment.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
And thanks for asking and the moment when I felt
total peace with it. And again, people can turn off
the radio if they don't like me talking like this,
but I'm just telling you the truth was in the
middle of trial, I had a dream and I was
in church. There's a beautiful Catholic church up there. Incredible church.
If you ever in Glenwood Springs. And by the way,
I had, other than blowing in and out of town
(06:51):
for depots, I hadn't spent.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Any real time. Have you spent time in Glenwood Springs,
Not Kelly, of you.
Speaker 6 (06:56):
I have one of my really good friends I used
to work at the hotel with is the control VP
of finance at the Glenwood Springs Resort.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I've got to tell you. Our entire trial team left
there saying, we love this place. We're going back. We're
going back with family, We're going to go back to
very vacation. We loved the Glenwood Springs area. No, we
stayed at the Maxwell Anderson because it was literally a
two minute walk to the courthouse and a wonderful hotel
by the way.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
But all of us left.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Loving Glenwood Springs and the whole valley. But there's a
beautiful Catholic church there, Saint Stephen. And I was about
to tell a story about a dream I had and
the moment when I had total peace, and the dream
was said in Saint Stephen. But I realized I probably
shouldn't tell that story because it's just a little too personal.
But there was a dream and I was in Saint
(07:48):
Stephen and you know, somebody came down and sat next
to me and said, I'm in there and I'm stressing.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Over the cases as all of us do.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
And somebody came down and sat next to me and said,
it's all going to be okay.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
And from that moment forward, I just had total peace.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Now, Dan, for this a preparation for this trial.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
When it comes to man hours, personnel resources devoted, where
does this rank in terms of your all time cases?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Well, and thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And I don't mean to sound like too much of
a self serving jerk, but we take that same approach
to every trial, right, which is total immersion.
Speaker 7 (08:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And then for me, at least personally, when you talk
about death cases, it just it takes it to a
whole other level, right, And this a beautiful six year
old girl, and it's just total, total, total immersion. I
think the difference is are you getting four hours a
night's sleepy? Are getting three? And I know a lot
(08:49):
of people in the audience can relate to it, but
total immersion from the entire trial team, total commitment, and again,
it was just beautiful to be a part of that.
So thank you and thanks for indulging this conversation. But
and my final thought on that is because to me
it was so profound. You have these parents, they take
(09:09):
their little girl to this amusement park, they drive four
hours to do it.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
She's just about to start first grade.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
She walks in with her whole life in front of her,
and she leaves in a body bag. And the parents
are as devastating, as devastated as any humans can be.
It's the ultimate loss, right, And then they fight and
fight and fight because the park never admitted fault. And
then they go to trial the courthouse, beautiful courthouse literally
(09:37):
at the base of the mountain where their daughter was killed.
The amusement park is visible, so visible from the courthouse,
but they go up there to fight, and then a
jury from Garfield County. They work hard, they study the facts,
they follow the facts to justice, and then that the
point of all this is that the parents left. And
(09:59):
obviously though there's no closure, closure is a silly word
when you lose a child. There's no closure. But they're
able to move forward with their lives in such a
profound way because they leave that courthouse knowing the people
of the county where that park is located, followed the
facts to justice. They were willing to do justice without
(10:19):
fear or favor, and they left with this deep gratitude
to the people of the county where this happened. And
to me, that was just such a beautiful, beautiful thing.
And so again, thank you to everyone involved, and thank
you to the people.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Of Garfield County.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Three oh three seven one three eight two five five
text d A N five seven seven three nine. We'll
get back to the big issues of the day. You're
on the Dan Kapla Show.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And now back to the Dan Kapla Show podcast.
Speaker 8 (10:51):
Farley suffered a terrible fate, my friends, we all know it,
we all saw it, but think it is not the
worst fate. It is better to face the gunman than
to live your life afraid to speak the truth.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Came end to that at JD Vance and as we
talk about, you know, some of the takeaways from the
assassination of Charlie Kirk. I think that is near the
top of the list, which is wait a second, the left,
and you can find some political.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Violence on the right.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Obviously, all political violence is wrong, but it's a systematic.
Part of the left's playbook is to you know, because
they can't win the argument based on facts, logic, et cetera.
So a violence physical violence, but violence in another form
as well, the violence of threats, which can severely disrupt
a person's life and their happiness. It can traumatize them
(11:46):
in other ways. It can also keep them out of politics. Right,
So I think we need to crank up to the
highest level alloted by the Constitution, the criminal penalties for threats,
and so I do want to talk out that more
specifically as.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
We work away through a lot of great texts and
calls as well. Let's go to the phone lines.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
We'll start in beautiful Publo with Patrick.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
You're on the Dane Kaplis Show.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
Welcome, Hello, Dan, he congratulations, congratulations on the case.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Oh thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (12:18):
Hey, Dan, I turned on the radio right when you
were talking about staying in Glenwood Springs, and I wanted
to call and give you my take on that. One time.
My wife and I at the time had gone up
there to visit her dad, and we were a little
late to come back to Pueblo, so we stayed at
the old Colorado Hotel there in Glynn's spring. Yeah, they
(12:42):
and it was off season and they actually gave us
the presidential suite. Nice Teddy Roosevelt stayed.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
And oh cool.
Speaker 7 (12:51):
I gave that famous speech out on that balcony and
I woke up that morning and I went out on
that balcony and just kind of imagined how grand it.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well, it's it's still pretty grand too. We did a
lot of depositions there in this case.
Speaker 9 (13:06):
But yeah, I've had Yeah, well.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Thank you man, thanks for that story. Now, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
And when we're up doing depositions in that case, we
stayed at that Hotel Colorado.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
It really is a great feel to it.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
We stayed at the Maxwell Anderson during trial because it
was like a two or three minute walk to the
courthouse Sunday.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Tremendous hotel.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
But as I get back to the phone lines, I
was just saying during the break that during this long
trial we just did We all just loved Glinwood Springs.
Had no idea it was that cool. And and we're
all going back at different times. We're not going to
like go back as a trial team in vacation together
you know, but we're all going to go back at
different times and just enjoy the place and and and
(13:46):
it is. It's it's one of the most beautiful things
coming out of this, uh, this great just outcome of
trial that now the parents leave that area. It was
such gratitude for the people of the county and such
warm feeling toward the county.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
And that will help.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Them, I think, find peace as they move forward in
life without their their beautiful daughter.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Three or three someone three eight two.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Five five the number text d A N five seven
seven three nine.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Let me go back to the phone lines. We'll talk
to Richard in Carbondale.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
And as I got such a greater appreciation of the
whole Roaring Fork Valley during this trial. Carbondale, what a
place that is too. Richard, welcome to the show.
Speaker 10 (14:30):
Hey Dan, remember me, I owe the jokes guy.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, and had a great suggestion for the name of
the show. Thank you, Richard.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
How you doing?
Speaker 7 (14:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (14:39):
You know, God, it's just you can't imagine the sorrow
that poor family. They would give up everything would add
to it to get their daughter.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Oh yeah, they give up everything they own to have
another hour with her.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
Yeah, exactly. Well, I want to call. I'm curious, can
you is there any illegal thing? Can you explain mechanically
what happened? I mean, what what was wrong? I'm curious, sure.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Not that sure?
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And what happened here for folks not familiar with the case,
and it's had a lot of national attention before and
now with the verdict.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
But what happened here is there's an amusement.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Park set on a mountaintop outside of beautiful Glenwood Springs
called Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and until twenty twenty, late
twenty twenty, it was owned by a certain group of people,
and then in late twenty twenty there was new ownership
of the park. And so what happened is you had
this beautiful young family from Colorado Springs drive four hours
(15:36):
up there with their six year old daughter, je Gell.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
The name one Gell means.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
The Gospel, very deeply faithful Christian mother and father born
in Ethiopia, immigrated to the US, and you know, worked
very hard.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
And succeeded here.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So they're taking their daughter to this amusement park and
they have a wonderful day and then they get a
text that their turn has come up on a.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Ride called the Haunted. They hadn't put on it before
they go over.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
It's going to be the last ride of the day,
so it's a it's a drop ride where you normally
picture these drop rides, right Richard.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Maybe you know high in the air, and so this
ride was.
Speaker 10 (16:13):
See I'm trying to get a sin. I know where
it is, obviously I live in card but I've never
actually been Okay, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So it's a ten story tall drop ride, and so
the floor rolls out and then it drops ten stories,
but it's set underground in a mine shaft. So what
happens is the everybody sits side by side facing forward.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
The ride operator did.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Not put the seat belt on one goal and then
gets a warning light on the screen, a red warning
light that there's a problem with their seat belt and
the ride won't launch because her seat belt isn't on her.
What had happened is the operator on the ride before
her seat had been unoccupied, so he had locked the
seat belts across the seat. She came in and as
(16:59):
a done in the past, sat on top of the
seat belts, so he doesn't pull the belt over her
as required by that the mandatory safety procedures and then
he gets this red warning light. Well, key to the
case was the finding of the State of Colorado that
the operators had not been properly trained to identify and
(17:20):
respond to these warning lights, so the operator doesn't properly
respond to this warning light, and then eventually a workaround
is done the system. A workaround is done so the
safety system is bypassed, as the State of Colorado found,
and then they launched the ride with this little girl
(17:40):
sitting on top of the seat belts. And so that
finding by the state that the operators were not properly
trained in how to respond to these warning lights is
a reason why ninety nine percent of the verdict was
put on these corporate entities, and the testimony a trial
went much deeper than that. Was the testimony of the
(18:02):
park officials that everything these operators did was according to
their training, which was, we argued to the jury, extraordinarily dangerous,
extraordinarily reckless, dangerous moving forward, and that's how this little
girl was killed and why we saw a two hundred
and five million dollar jury verdict. To make the world
safe or send a message to this spark and others.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Never ever do this again. You've got to train these people.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Right, you're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
Ceral freedom of religion is possibly only as possible only
if we honor the absolute separation of church and state. Remember,
I said, the impetus of this book that I said
on every every single time I had to promote it
or talk about it was the blurring or the erasing
of the line between state and church. And that's what
(18:55):
religious nationalists were doing, and many of them white nationalists
in it's white nationalism rapped in religious nationalism.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
He Tom Lemon can't possibly believe a word he's saying, right,
he's talking about the Charlie Kirk memorial. Obviously he doesn't
believe a word of that. He's just trying to be relevant. Again,
he cannot possibly. He is not a stupid man. Those
are just stupid comments, not in the pejorative, just in
the literal. For somebody to lack the intelligence, you know,
(19:28):
to lack the intelligence necessary to understand how far off
those remarks are. No, Don Lemon's an intelligent man, just
trying to get headlines. So you know the reason we
did that is is because the left is terrified, Right,
the left is absolutely terrified of voters voting their faith,
(19:49):
not Catholic for Catholic candidates, but voting the principles behind
their faith in which candidates are going to carry those out,
because at that point the left is extinguished. So no, obviously,
it has never been a case in America of separating
faith from government or else. You know that Don Lemon
and he probably would much of the left would condemn
the Founders for the Declaration of Independence, which ends by saying, Hey,
(20:13):
the reason we're willing to do all this and fight
this war is we trust God to help us win
with reliance on divine providence. We pledge to you our lives,
our fortune, our sacred honor, and so yeah, people like
Don Lemon and the rest of the left would condemn,
you know, the Founders and say the Declaration of Independence
violated that the so called separation between church and state.
(20:34):
As you know, all that separation means is that the
government can't endorse a particular religion as the official religion
of the state. It doesn't mean government officials can't be
openly Christian or Jewish or Hindu or whatever they want
to do. No, that the whole idea of separating faith
from government and the work of government officials would have
(20:57):
been abhorrent to the founders because it it's the primary
source of morality.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Also, Dan, to your point on Don Lemon and many
others of the secular and in many cases atheistic left,
that is a belief structure, that is a value system
that is in and of itself for them, a religion
that they worship at the altar of. So they want
to bring their values, their religion quotes to the table.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We're supposed to leave ours outside the public.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
So they want to substitute a triers, right, And that's
why they want to separate kids from their parents, right,
because they and they want to break down the traditional family,
which is the source of moral teaching, which often goes
back to faith. Yeah, the left wants to fracture all
of that so it can insert its own religion. ROBERTA
(21:43):
from our Vada. You're on the Dan Kapulus Show. Welcome, Yes, ma'am,
thank you for being here.
Speaker 11 (21:53):
Well, I just want to say kudos to you on
the trial and the win. Are your win in Glenn
with strength? I remember that back. I think it was
twenty like you said, twenty twenty whatever a little girl following, Yeah, yeah,
I believe that happened. What a tremendous horror story for
those poor people. I'm so sorry that happened. And thank you,
and I'm glad you want to show the world that
they are going to be held accountable for that.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
That's yeah, and it's gonna it's gonna make everything safer
or many things safer.
Speaker 11 (22:20):
Oh for sure, for sure. My only question is did
the parents did they let the little girl by yourself
or obviously the parents weren't with you when the girl
was by yourself writing here.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Thank you for asking that, and we had a text
on that also, and thank you for the chance to
talk about that, because listen, I understand a lot of
people have the question, well, wait a second, you know
why didn't the parents buckleer in et cetera.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
And here's here's why.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
And the reason that the park, which never admitted fault,
the park had an opportunity through the legal process to
try to blame the parents or blame other relatives on
the ride, and they never even tried because we would
have destroyed them for that. And here's why. The way
the ride sets up. First of all, that the ride
rules are that anybody forty six inches tall can ride it.
(23:07):
That the park didn't even have an age limit on
the ride. No parent was required under the parks rules
to ride the ride. That's how safe it was represented
to be. So you could have the ride held six people,
You could have six six year olds riding the ride
together without any adult, and that would fit the park's rules.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
That's how safe they represented it to be.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
The other issue was that the way the ride set up,
the complicated nature of the restraint system. This wasn't just
like jumping in your car and you know, throwing on
the belt. They had one autotype seat belt, but the
other belt was was a very unique kind of pin
in a block belt, and so this was not the
type of restraint system. And the State of Colorado concluded
(23:50):
this that passengers could or should even try to put on.
That was the State of Colorado conclusion. And then Roberta,
our team, Caroline and Taylor in particular, spent five hundred
hours reviewing three hundred hours of prior ride video and
ninety eight point five it was really over ninety nine
(24:11):
percent of all the children on the ride were belted
in by ride operators. Parents didn't even attempt it because
the belting system was so complex. So that's why it
was operators and operators only who were to belt these
kids into rides. But thank you for asking that, because
I know that's a fair question people have.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (24:33):
Yeah, well it's tragic, and I'm glad you won and
set the president for this is not going to happen again.
It will not happen again. And my heart goes out
to those poor parents. I had been to gun with
Springs many times. It's a wonderful. Oh it's wonderful or great,
and the church is even more fantastic.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
So God, Well are you talking about Saint Stephen. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's where I went during trial, That's where I went.
Speaker 11 (24:56):
I heard you say that.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Yeah, amazing.
Speaker 11 (24:58):
Yeah, well, thank you on your sign.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Those people so rovertic.
Speaker 11 (25:02):
It hurts for those people.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Thank you that there is no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
And they are such deeply faithful Christians that achieving this
justice right. You can't, as I said to the jury,
can't bring their daughter back, but you can make sure
she didn't die in vain because punitive damages compensatory damages
are to compensate for this enormous horrific loss. Right punitive
damages are meant to send a message and make the
(25:27):
world safer. So yeah, I can't bring her back, but
can help make sure no other child dies this way
or nobody dies this way. And that's what this verdict
will do, I guarantee you, because listen, when it's too
expensive to do it wrong, then businesses are going to
do it right.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
I understand there are plenty of businesses that are going
to do it right just because they want to do
it right, but there are some businesses that don't do
it right. And so a verdict like this that will
be heard all over this country, and it is being
heard all over this country, and you can bet every
amusement park in the count they're talking to their people
about this verdict. And we don't want this to be us.
(26:05):
So this jury very very intelligent, thoughtful jury. They followed
the facts to the just outcome. They did the right
thing and lives are going to be saved because of it.
That's what it's all about. And so the parents leave
Garfield County with this feeling of that they've they forced,
(26:25):
they forced the park. Well, the park never has admitted fault, right,
but they were able to achieve justice in the form
of a jury verdict that said, yes, this park is
at fault in a very loud and appropriate way, supported
by the facts. And then they left with that piece
of knowing that they'd fulfilled their mission to try to
save others. And that was such a warm feeling, and
(26:47):
they left with that gratefulness to the people of Garfield County.
So it does give them a better chance to move
on with their lives. But Ryan, is the evidence showed
anytime a parent loses a child, right, it's unimaginable. It's
the worst loss in the face of the earth. Nobody
could imagine it. And then on top of that, to
have your child killed in this ghastly way that you
can never get out of your mind, that's like a
(27:09):
daily torture. So this level of peace they were able
to get through the justice that was done by the
people of Garfield County, that will be a very important
thing in being able to navigate the.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
Rest of their lives.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And so it's again just full of gratitude. Now, Kelly,
you on a much lighter note reported to me today. Yeah,
the bathrooms here are being renovated.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
Yeah, so let's talk about that a little bit of
a turn here. So the fourth floor, the bathrooms up here,
both the men's and the women's, are being renovated right now.
Has been like this for about six weeks, and unfortunately
there was a little bit of a heckup in the
(27:56):
fourth floor women's renovation and they had some leaks that
actually leaked down into the third floor women's bathroom.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
May I ask a question, though, because the reason this
intrigued me so much and it was so encouraging to
me as a lowly employ here is why were they
renovating them? These bathrooms have always been nice and clean
and everything else. So it's encouraging to me that they're
renovating the bathrooms. I think that says great things about
the company.
Speaker 6 (28:25):
Well some of them, you know, are some of the stalls,
the doors were a little to iffy and things like that.
But right now, yes, the unfortunate thing is that the
fourth floor women's bathroom and the third floor women's bathroom
is now completely off liments and we have to go down.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
To lock and I can assure you I will not
go in there and never have, never have, And I've
got to hit this brave, but this I want to
talk about have you guys ever accidentally walked into the
wrong bathroom like accident? Oh man, I wonder if everybody
in the audience has had that experience here at least once.
I'm trying to lighten things up so I don't cry
(29:02):
as I think about this case and the tremendous outcome
and these parents and their courageous battles. So thank you
to everybody who has texted and called, and very much
appreciate the very positive thoughts.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
You're on the Dan Capla Show.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
And now back to the Dan Taplas Show podcast.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Glad you're here, lines and fuego.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Let me head right over there. We'll start in monument.
I wonder if this is going to turn the snow
in monument. Jeff, you're on the Dan Capla Show. Welcome,
not predicting that, just curious.
Speaker 12 (29:31):
That's looking like it.
Speaker 9 (29:32):
Hey, Dan, thank you so much.
Speaker 12 (29:33):
I'm a long time listener. My heart leads for this
little girl. But I just want to share I've been
involved in this industry for thirty years on the international
level and training and with the manufacturer of these rides,
and this was so operator error and it never never
should have occurred. If they're hiring kids, they don't get
(29:56):
trained and they're just buzzing through. But there's all these
sales system.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Right, Thank you for you call my friend. I direct
everybody to prove that's Jeff's point. Pardon me to the
State of Colorado report. You can find it online. Just
google up Glenwick Cavern's Adventure Park death and you'll find
the state report so thoroughly researched.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
That investigation was done so well, and what the State.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Of Colorado found there is there was a safety system
in effect when when that red light warning light showed
up for wan Gel and the word means gospel for
that six year old seat, there's a warning light and
its warning of a seatbelt problem, and the ride saved her.
The ride would not allow the operator to launch her
(30:42):
without her belt on. But then what happened, according to
the state report and the evidence obviously you know, supported
it a trial, is that a workaround was done around
the safety system.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
But here's here's key.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
In my opinion, the way I interpret what happened at
trial and this very appropriate, well reasoned verdict, is that
park officials testified everything the operators did and did not
do was according to their training, and so you had
this evidence, as excuse me reported by the state report,
(31:15):
of this work around the safety system that would have
saved her. And the way I interpret that this very
well reasoned jury verdict is a message to this park
and all others out there, No, don't do that kind
of work around. Honor the warning light. Make sure you
follow the mandatory safety rules and train the operators to
(31:36):
do it right. The state concluded and testify a trial
the operators were not properly trained in how to respond
to a warning light.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
And I think this jury verdict was.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Allowed message and appropriate message to this park in every
park in America. No train your people, train your people
how to respond to these warning lights. Train your people
not to work around these safety systems. I think that
that's the way I interpreted this jury message, and that
ride has a safety system and it should.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Have been honored.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
So that's why ninety nine percent of this verdict went
to corporate entities, not to the operators. It came down
in the jury's mind and very well grounded to this
fatal failure to properly train. So read the state report
if you want to get the state's explanation on that
let's go to steven Colorado Springs here on the dan
(32:27):
Kaplis show.
Speaker 9 (32:28):
Welcome you'd have any accouncil campus.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
How you doing, my friend?
Speaker 10 (32:31):
Part good.
Speaker 9 (32:33):
Part of the question I had, I think was answered.
My question while I was on hold was what exactly
was the training protocol for the operators? As my understanding was,
there were two operators and they both ignored the warning
the seat belt was not a cast and she was
sitting on Yes, sir, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (32:53):
No, I think you're right, And that's why I've said
that the testimony of the state investigator, and the state
did a tremendous detail investigation and Descott in a Row
testified a trial who was then the head of the
amusement park program. And so this testimony of the state
that the operators were not properly trained on how to
respond to these warning lights and that the operators did
(33:15):
a work around. Again, that's why ninety nine percent of
this verdict, this was a two hundred and five million
dollar verdict one hundred and twenty three million in punitive
damages against the corporate owner of the amusement park. And
my personal belief is that it was driven by the
training issue, because, as the state concluded, these operators weren't
(33:36):
trained to properly respond to the warning light. And then
you had this workaround done, and then you had the
testimony of the park that, hey, everything they did was
according to their training. I think this was allowed and
appropriate and necessary message through the punitive damages award, no
honor the mandatory safety rules. Trained people properly do not
(33:59):
train any kind of work around. So that's why I
say this verdict will save lives. It was completely supported
by the evidence. It was rational and well reasoned and necessary,
and it will save lives. As I told the jury, Ryan,
I know we're out of time, so I apologize to
other calls I can't get to. As I told the
jury in closing, you could allow a billion dollars in
(34:23):
punitive damages and it would not be too much in
a situation like this.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
That was my strong belief and it still is.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
And the parents are so very grateful to this jury
for doing justice because their mission from day one. They
never want another parent to go through what they're going through,
and they never want another child lost this way. They
wanted to punitive damages used to make the world safer
and it will here. Thank you Ryan, thank you Kell
This is Dan Caplis and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplas Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform. Let's all keep fighting,
and thank you to everybody who did this show and
did it so well. When I was in trial, Erica
(00:24):
just reminded me, pardon me, Alexi, I'm thinking of Erica
kerk Alexa just reminded me through a text. I haven't
been on air since August eighteenth, as I went into
the final two weeks of trial prep, and we've been
prepping for this trial for years, went into the final
two weeks of trial prep, and then week after week
after week of trial up in Garfield County District Court
(00:46):
in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and I've been in trial for
so many weeks, and Sheriff Steve Reims and George Brockler
and Heidi Gannall and Christy Burton Brown and Matt Don
and of course Ryan and Kelly all did such a
great job with the show that literally my key cart
did net work today. But so thank you for letting
(01:06):
me in, Kelly, appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Now.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Then, in the time that I've known you, Dan and
worked with you, and this is date's back now almost
seven complete calendar years, I believe this is the longest
contiguous time you've been away from this program.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
The longest before I think had been a week. Yeah,
maybe yeah, maybe a week.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
No.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
It was so strange, and it was so strange to
be away. But everybody listening can relate to an example
from their own lives. We were in such a deep
trial bubble, usually about three hours sleep a night on
a good night, maybe four and a half. But everybody
on the team, you know, Barbara Waheid, Carrie Jones Stoole,
and our managing partner, John Kellner, who's a phenomenal trial lawyer,
(01:45):
as well as everybody else on the team, and Sabrina Robinson,
Caroline Kaplis, who's on every one of my trial teams.
It was just total immersion. And all I can say
is literally, thank you God, Thank you God. I really
felt throughout this trial that it was a god thing.
I mean, were there were so many times I just
and for those who don't like this talk, I get it.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
But it's real.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
There were just so many times I I just felt
like my guardian angel, holy spirit whatever was helping me,
and it was and to us and the cause, and
it just felt very much like a god thing. And
I can say that without any hesitation because our side
was just and it was right, and we were blessed
(02:28):
with this incredibly intelligent, hardworking, rigorous jury. I think in
the end they sent out fifty eight questions during the
course of the case, highly intelligent questions, and we were
just blessed with a hard working jury that followed the
facts to a just verdict and the truth was told
and lives will be saved because of this verdict, and
(02:49):
amusement parks will operate more safely because of this verdict.
They're not going to want a two hundred and five
million dollar verdict against them, so when it becomes too
expensive to do it dangerously, you know a lot of
parks around the country will do it safely. And so
it was the epitome of justice, not because of any
involvement I had. I was privileged to be lead counsel,
(03:11):
but I was still a small cog in.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
A much bigger effort.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
And it's just it was so incredibly like, after forty
one years of doing this, it was so incredibly fulfilling
to see these parents. From a small village in Ethiopia,
they come to America, they work hard, they're blessed with
this beautiful little daughter. As her father testified on the standings,
thank you God for trusting me with this girl. And
(03:35):
he worked so hard to buy a house with a
yard where she could play and grow up. And then
they drove four hours to take her to this amusement
park outside of Glenwood Springs and then she's dropped ten
stories to her death. One minute, he's the happiest mom
and dad in the world. The next minute their daughter
is brutally, brutally killed at the bottom of a mine shaft.
(03:58):
And that park never admitted fault. And they fought for
years and years and years, and they took it and
they trusted a jury in Garfield County, and Lord knows
they should have because you will never see a more intelligent, rational,
hard working jury than that.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
And justice was done.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And to see the parents, because you know, we're sitting
next to them as the verdicts read at six thirty
on a Friday night, and to see them start sobbing
as the verdicts read and the jury has followed the
facts to the truth and returns a just verdict and
then makes.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
Clear the value of their daughter and her life.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
And then hands down a punitive damages award of one
hundred and twenty three million that will send the message
as punitive damages are intended to do to this park
and parks around the country, and it will save lives.
That's man, that's an epitome. And it was such a
privilege just to be a small part of that. So
thank you to all of you for holding down the fort.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Yes, quick question.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
So I know from talking to you about these things
over the years, you're never quite sure until that jury
comes back with the verdict. So that being said as
a predicate to this, was there a point in the trial.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
That you cite with your team, etc.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Where you really felt there was a definitive turning point
in your favor.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I thought that there were so many great questions, Ryan.
I thought that the testimony of the lead investigator for
the State of Colorado that started the trial was so
enormous because both sides can have paid experts right, and
some are right and some are wrong, and we don't
bring him in unless they're right. But he's not a
(05:37):
paid expert. He's working for the people the state of Colorado,
and the State of Colorado did a tremendous investigation of
this horrible death and put a ton of resources into it.
The whole world was watching, right, and I'm sure they
would have anyway, but there was worldwide attention on this
horrible death, and the State of Colorado did a great investigation.
And when that investigator was done with his testimony, a
(06:00):
man named.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Scott Narrow, that was it.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
That was it.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I mean, that's the truth. And there's a video and
he testified. He explained how Colorado law works. You have
to follow the safety procedures in the manufacturer. Here's the video.
Look what happens, Look what doesn't. But I thought his
testimony was critical. But there were so many important witnesses
and crosses, and yeah, I just think.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
That I just think that was absolutely a key moment.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
And thanks for asking and the moment when I felt
total peace with it. And again, people can turn off
the radio if they don't like me talking like this,
but I'm just telling you the truth was in the
middle of trial, I had a dream and I was
in church. There's a beautiful Catholic church up there. Incredible church.
If you ever in Glenwood Springs. And by the way,
I had, other than blowing in and out of town
(06:51):
for depots, I hadn't spent.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Any real time. Have you spent time in Glenwood Springs,
Not Kelly, of you.
Speaker 6 (06:56):
I have one of my really good friends I used
to work at the hotel with is the control VP
of finance at the Glenwood Springs Resort.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I've got to tell you. Our entire trial team left
there saying, we love this place. We're going back. We're
going back with family, We're going to go back to
very vacation. We loved the Glenwood Springs area. No, we
stayed at the Maxwell Anderson because it was literally a
two minute walk to the courthouse and a wonderful hotel
by the way.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
But all of us left.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Loving Glenwood Springs and the whole valley. But there's a
beautiful Catholic church there, Saint Stephen. And I was about
to tell a story about a dream I had and
the moment when I had total peace, and the dream
was said in Saint Stephen. But I realized I probably
shouldn't tell that story because it's just a little too personal.
But there was a dream and I was in Saint
(07:48):
Stephen and you know, somebody came down and sat next
to me and said, I'm in there and I'm stressing.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Over the cases as all of us do.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
And somebody came down and sat next to me and said,
it's all going to be okay.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
And from that moment forward, I just had total peace.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Now, Dan, for this a preparation for this trial.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
When it comes to man hours, personnel resources devoted, where
does this rank in terms of your all time cases?
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Well, and thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
And I don't mean to sound like too much of
a self serving jerk, but we take that same approach
to every trial, right, which is total immersion.
Speaker 7 (08:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
And then for me, at least personally, when you talk
about death cases, it just it takes it to a
whole other level, right, And this a beautiful six year
old girl, and it's just total, total, total immersion. I
think the difference is are you getting four hours a
night's sleepy? Are getting three? And I know a lot
(08:49):
of people in the audience can relate to it, but
total immersion from the entire trial team, total commitment, and again,
it was just beautiful to be a part of that.
So thank you and thanks for indulging this conversation. But
and my final thought on that is because to me
it was so profound. You have these parents, they take
(09:09):
their little girl to this amusement park, they drive four
hours to do it.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
She's just about to start first grade.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
She walks in with her whole life in front of her,
and she leaves in a body bag. And the parents
are as devastating, as devastated as any humans can be.
It's the ultimate loss, right, And then they fight and
fight and fight because the park never admitted fault. And
then they go to trial the courthouse, beautiful courthouse literally
(09:37):
at the base of the mountain where their daughter was killed.
The amusement park is visible, so visible from the courthouse,
but they go up there to fight, and then a
jury from Garfield County. They work hard, they study the facts,
they follow the facts to justice, and then that the
point of all this is that the parents left. And
(09:59):
obviously though there's no closure, closure is a silly word
when you lose a child. There's no closure. But they're
able to move forward with their lives in such a
profound way because they leave that courthouse knowing the people
of the county where that park is located, followed the
facts to justice. They were willing to do justice without
(10:19):
fear or favor, and they left with this deep gratitude
to the people of the county where this happened. And
to me, that was just such a beautiful, beautiful thing.
And so again, thank you to everyone involved, and thank
you to the people.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Of Garfield County.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Three oh three seven one three eight two five five
text d A N five seven seven three nine. We'll
get back to the big issues of the day. You're
on the Dan Kapla Show.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And now back to the Dan Kapla Show podcast.
Speaker 8 (10:51):
Farley suffered a terrible fate, my friends, we all know it,
we all saw it, but think it is not the
worst fate. It is better to face the gunman than
to live your life afraid to speak the truth.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Came end to that at JD Vance and as we
talk about, you know, some of the takeaways from the
assassination of Charlie Kirk. I think that is near the
top of the list, which is wait a second, the left,
and you can find some political.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Violence on the right.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Obviously, all political violence is wrong, but it's a systematic.
Part of the left's playbook is to you know, because
they can't win the argument based on facts, logic, et cetera.
So a violence physical violence, but violence in another form
as well, the violence of threats, which can severely disrupt
a person's life and their happiness. It can traumatize them
(11:46):
in other ways. It can also keep them out of politics. Right,
So I think we need to crank up to the
highest level alloted by the Constitution, the criminal penalties for threats,
and so I do want to talk out that more
specifically as.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
We work away through a lot of great texts and
calls as well. Let's go to the phone lines.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
We'll start in beautiful Publo with Patrick.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
You're on the Dane Kaplis Show.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
Welcome, Hello, Dan, he congratulations, congratulations on the case.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
Oh thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (12:18):
Hey, Dan, I turned on the radio right when you
were talking about staying in Glenwood Springs, and I wanted
to call and give you my take on that. One time.
My wife and I at the time had gone up
there to visit her dad, and we were a little
late to come back to Pueblo, so we stayed at
the old Colorado Hotel there in Glynn's spring. Yeah, they
(12:42):
and it was off season and they actually gave us
the presidential suite. Nice Teddy Roosevelt stayed.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
And oh cool.
Speaker 7 (12:51):
I gave that famous speech out on that balcony and
I woke up that morning and I went out on
that balcony and just kind of imagined how grand it.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Well, it's it's still pretty grand too. We did a
lot of depositions there in this case.
Speaker 9 (13:06):
But yeah, I've had Yeah, well.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
Thank you man, thanks for that story. Now, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
And when we're up doing depositions in that case, we
stayed at that Hotel Colorado.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
It really is a great feel to it.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
We stayed at the Maxwell Anderson during trial because it
was like a two or three minute walk to the
courthouse Sunday.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Tremendous hotel.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
But as I get back to the phone lines, I
was just saying during the break that during this long
trial we just did We all just loved Glinwood Springs.
Had no idea it was that cool. And and we're
all going back at different times. We're not going to
like go back as a trial team in vacation together
you know, but we're all going to go back at
different times and just enjoy the place and and and
(13:46):
it is. It's it's one of the most beautiful things
coming out of this, uh, this great just outcome of
trial that now the parents leave that area. It was
such gratitude for the people of the county and such
warm feeling toward the county.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
And that will help.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Them, I think, find peace as they move forward in
life without their their beautiful daughter.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Three or three someone three eight two.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Five five the number text d A N five seven
seven three nine.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Let me go back to the phone lines. We'll talk
to Richard in Carbondale.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
And as I got such a greater appreciation of the
whole Roaring Fork Valley during this trial. Carbondale, what a
place that is too. Richard, welcome to the show.
Speaker 10 (14:30):
Hey Dan, remember me, I owe the jokes guy.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, and had a great suggestion for the name of
the show. Thank you, Richard.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
How you doing?
Speaker 7 (14:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (14:39):
You know, God, it's just you can't imagine the sorrow
that poor family. They would give up everything would add
to it to get their daughter.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Oh yeah, they give up everything they own to have
another hour with her.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
Yeah, exactly. Well, I want to call. I'm curious, can
you is there any illegal thing? Can you explain mechanically
what happened? I mean, what what was wrong? I'm curious, sure.
Speaker 4 (15:02):
Not that sure?
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And what happened here for folks not familiar with the case,
and it's had a lot of national attention before and
now with the verdict.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
But what happened here is there's an amusement.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Park set on a mountaintop outside of beautiful Glenwood Springs
called Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park and until twenty twenty, late
twenty twenty, it was owned by a certain group of people,
and then in late twenty twenty there was new ownership
of the park. And so what happened is you had
this beautiful young family from Colorado Springs drive four hours
(15:36):
up there with their six year old daughter, je Gell.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
The name one Gell means.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
The Gospel, very deeply faithful Christian mother and father born
in Ethiopia, immigrated to the US, and you know, worked
very hard.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
And succeeded here.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
So they're taking their daughter to this amusement park and
they have a wonderful day and then they get a
text that their turn has come up on a.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Ride called the Haunted. They hadn't put on it before
they go over.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
It's going to be the last ride of the day,
so it's a it's a drop ride where you normally
picture these drop rides, right Richard.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Maybe you know high in the air, and so this
ride was.
Speaker 10 (16:13):
See I'm trying to get a sin. I know where
it is, obviously I live in card but I've never
actually been Okay, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So it's a ten story tall drop ride, and so
the floor rolls out and then it drops ten stories,
but it's set underground in a mine shaft. So what
happens is the everybody sits side by side facing forward.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
The ride operator did.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Not put the seat belt on one goal and then
gets a warning light on the screen, a red warning
light that there's a problem with their seat belt and
the ride won't launch because her seat belt isn't on her.
What had happened is the operator on the ride before
her seat had been unoccupied, so he had locked the
seat belts across the seat. She came in and as
(16:59):
a done in the past, sat on top of the
seat belts, so he doesn't pull the belt over her
as required by that the mandatory safety procedures and then
he gets this red warning light. Well, key to the
case was the finding of the State of Colorado that
the operators had not been properly trained to identify and
(17:20):
respond to these warning lights, so the operator doesn't properly
respond to this warning light, and then eventually a workaround
is done the system. A workaround is done so the
safety system is bypassed, as the State of Colorado found,
and then they launched the ride with this little girl
(17:40):
sitting on top of the seat belts. And so that
finding by the state that the operators were not properly
trained in how to respond to these warning lights is
a reason why ninety nine percent of the verdict was
put on these corporate entities, and the testimony a trial
went much deeper than that. Was the testimony of the
(18:02):
park officials that everything these operators did was according to
their training, which was, we argued to the jury, extraordinarily dangerous,
extraordinarily reckless, dangerous moving forward, and that's how this little
girl was killed and why we saw a two hundred
and five million dollar jury verdict. To make the world
safe or send a message to this spark and others.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Never ever do this again. You've got to train these people.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Right, you're listening to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
Ceral freedom of religion is possibly only as possible only
if we honor the absolute separation of church and state. Remember,
I said, the impetus of this book that I said
on every every single time I had to promote it
or talk about it was the blurring or the erasing
of the line between state and church. And that's what
(18:55):
religious nationalists were doing, and many of them white nationalists
in it's white nationalism rapped in religious nationalism.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
He Tom Lemon can't possibly believe a word he's saying, right,
he's talking about the Charlie Kirk memorial. Obviously he doesn't
believe a word of that. He's just trying to be relevant. Again,
he cannot possibly. He is not a stupid man. Those
are just stupid comments, not in the pejorative, just in
the literal. For somebody to lack the intelligence, you know,
(19:28):
to lack the intelligence necessary to understand how far off
those remarks are. No, Don Lemon's an intelligent man, just
trying to get headlines. So you know the reason we
did that is is because the left is terrified, Right,
the left is absolutely terrified of voters voting their faith,
(19:49):
not Catholic for Catholic candidates, but voting the principles behind
their faith in which candidates are going to carry those out,
because at that point the left is extinguished. So no, obviously,
it has never been a case in America of separating
faith from government or else. You know that Don Lemon
and he probably would much of the left would condemn
the Founders for the Declaration of Independence, which ends by saying, Hey,
(20:13):
the reason we're willing to do all this and fight
this war is we trust God to help us win
with reliance on divine providence. We pledge to you our lives,
our fortune, our sacred honor, and so yeah, people like
Don Lemon and the rest of the left would condemn,
you know, the Founders and say the Declaration of Independence
violated that the so called separation between church and state.
(20:34):
As you know, all that separation means is that the
government can't endorse a particular religion as the official religion
of the state. It doesn't mean government officials can't be
openly Christian or Jewish or Hindu or whatever they want
to do. No, that the whole idea of separating faith
from government and the work of government officials would have
(20:57):
been abhorrent to the founders because it it's the primary
source of morality.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Also, Dan, to your point on Don Lemon and many
others of the secular and in many cases atheistic left,
that is a belief structure, that is a value system
that is in and of itself for them, a religion
that they worship at the altar of. So they want
to bring their values, their religion quotes to the table.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
We're supposed to leave ours outside the public.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
So they want to substitute a triers, right, And that's
why they want to separate kids from their parents, right,
because they and they want to break down the traditional family,
which is the source of moral teaching, which often goes
back to faith. Yeah, the left wants to fracture all
of that so it can insert its own religion. ROBERTA
(21:43):
from our Vada. You're on the Dan Kapulus Show. Welcome, Yes, ma'am,
thank you for being here.
Speaker 11 (21:53):
Well, I just want to say kudos to you on
the trial and the win. Are your win in Glenn
with strength? I remember that back. I think it was
twenty like you said, twenty twenty whatever a little girl following, Yeah, yeah,
I believe that happened. What a tremendous horror story for
those poor people. I'm so sorry that happened. And thank you,
and I'm glad you want to show the world that
they are going to be held accountable for that.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
That's yeah, and it's gonna it's gonna make everything safer
or many things safer.
Speaker 11 (22:20):
Oh for sure, for sure. My only question is did
the parents did they let the little girl by yourself
or obviously the parents weren't with you when the girl
was by yourself writing here.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Thank you for asking that, and we had a text
on that also, and thank you for the chance to
talk about that, because listen, I understand a lot of
people have the question, well, wait a second, you know
why didn't the parents buckleer in et cetera.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
And here's here's why.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
And the reason that the park, which never admitted fault,
the park had an opportunity through the legal process to
try to blame the parents or blame other relatives on
the ride, and they never even tried because we would
have destroyed them for that. And here's why. The way
the ride sets up. First of all, that the ride
rules are that anybody forty six inches tall can ride it.
(23:07):
That the park didn't even have an age limit on
the ride. No parent was required under the parks rules
to ride the ride. That's how safe it was represented
to be. So you could have the ride held six people,
You could have six six year olds riding the ride
together without any adult, and that would fit the park's rules.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
That's how safe they represented it to be.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
The other issue was that the way the ride set up,
the complicated nature of the restraint system. This wasn't just
like jumping in your car and you know, throwing on
the belt. They had one autotype seat belt, but the
other belt was was a very unique kind of pin
in a block belt, and so this was not the
type of restraint system. And the State of Colorado concluded
(23:50):
this that passengers could or should even try to put on.
That was the State of Colorado conclusion. And then Roberta,
our team, Caroline and Taylor in particular, spent five hundred
hours reviewing three hundred hours of prior ride video and
ninety eight point five it was really over ninety nine
(24:11):
percent of all the children on the ride were belted
in by ride operators. Parents didn't even attempt it because
the belting system was so complex. So that's why it
was operators and operators only who were to belt these
kids into rides. But thank you for asking that, because
I know that's a fair question people have.
Speaker 5 (24:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (24:33):
Yeah, well it's tragic, and I'm glad you won and
set the president for this is not going to happen again.
It will not happen again. And my heart goes out
to those poor parents. I had been to gun with
Springs many times. It's a wonderful. Oh it's wonderful or great,
and the church is even more fantastic.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
So God, Well are you talking about Saint Stephen. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's where I went during trial, That's where I went.
Speaker 11 (24:56):
I heard you say that.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Yeah, amazing.
Speaker 11 (24:58):
Yeah, well, thank you on your sign.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Those people so rovertic.
Speaker 11 (25:02):
It hurts for those people.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Thank you that there is no doubt about that.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
And they are such deeply faithful Christians that achieving this
justice right. You can't, as I said to the jury,
can't bring their daughter back, but you can make sure
she didn't die in vain because punitive damages compensatory damages
are to compensate for this enormous horrific loss. Right punitive
damages are meant to send a message and make the
(25:27):
world safer. So yeah, I can't bring her back, but
can help make sure no other child dies this way
or nobody dies this way. And that's what this verdict
will do, I guarantee you, because listen, when it's too
expensive to do it wrong, then businesses are going to
do it right.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
I understand there are plenty of businesses that are going
to do it right just because they want to do
it right, but there are some businesses that don't do
it right. And so a verdict like this that will
be heard all over this country, and it is being
heard all over this country, and you can bet every
amusement park in the count they're talking to their people
about this verdict. And we don't want this to be us.
(26:05):
So this jury very very intelligent, thoughtful jury. They followed
the facts to the just outcome. They did the right
thing and lives are going to be saved because of it.
That's what it's all about. And so the parents leave
Garfield County with this feeling of that they've they forced,
(26:25):
they forced the park. Well, the park never has admitted fault, right,
but they were able to achieve justice in the form
of a jury verdict that said, yes, this park is
at fault in a very loud and appropriate way, supported
by the facts. And then they left with that piece
of knowing that they'd fulfilled their mission to try to
save others. And that was such a warm feeling, and
(26:47):
they left with that gratefulness to the people of Garfield County.
So it does give them a better chance to move
on with their lives. But Ryan, is the evidence showed
anytime a parent loses a child, right, it's unimaginable. It's
the worst loss in the face of the earth. Nobody
could imagine it. And then on top of that, to
have your child killed in this ghastly way that you
can never get out of your mind, that's like a
(27:09):
daily torture. So this level of peace they were able
to get through the justice that was done by the
people of Garfield County, that will be a very important
thing in being able to navigate the.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
Rest of their lives.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
And so it's again just full of gratitude. Now, Kelly,
you on a much lighter note reported to me today. Yeah,
the bathrooms here are being renovated.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
Yeah, so let's talk about that a little bit of
a turn here. So the fourth floor, the bathrooms up here,
both the men's and the women's, are being renovated right now.
Has been like this for about six weeks, and unfortunately
there was a little bit of a heckup in the
(27:56):
fourth floor women's renovation and they had some leaks that
actually leaked down into the third floor women's bathroom.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
May I ask a question, though, because the reason this
intrigued me so much and it was so encouraging to
me as a lowly employ here is why were they
renovating them? These bathrooms have always been nice and clean
and everything else. So it's encouraging to me that they're
renovating the bathrooms. I think that says great things about
the company.
Speaker 6 (28:25):
Well some of them, you know, are some of the stalls,
the doors were a little to iffy and things like that.
But right now, yes, the unfortunate thing is that the
fourth floor women's bathroom and the third floor women's bathroom
is now completely off liments and we have to go down.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
To lock and I can assure you I will not
go in there and never have, never have, And I've
got to hit this brave, but this I want to
talk about have you guys ever accidentally walked into the
wrong bathroom like accident? Oh man, I wonder if everybody
in the audience has had that experience here at least once.
I'm trying to lighten things up so I don't cry
(29:02):
as I think about this case and the tremendous outcome
and these parents and their courageous battles. So thank you
to everybody who has texted and called, and very much
appreciate the very positive thoughts.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
You're on the Dan Capla Show.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
And now back to the Dan Taplas Show podcast.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Glad you're here, lines and fuego.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Let me head right over there. We'll start in monument.
I wonder if this is going to turn the snow
in monument. Jeff, you're on the Dan Capla Show. Welcome,
not predicting that, just curious.
Speaker 12 (29:31):
That's looking like it.
Speaker 9 (29:32):
Hey, Dan, thank you so much.
Speaker 12 (29:33):
I'm a long time listener. My heart leads for this
little girl. But I just want to share I've been
involved in this industry for thirty years on the international
level and training and with the manufacturer of these rides,
and this was so operator error and it never never
should have occurred. If they're hiring kids, they don't get
(29:56):
trained and they're just buzzing through. But there's all these
sales system.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Right, Thank you for you call my friend. I direct
everybody to prove that's Jeff's point. Pardon me to the
State of Colorado report. You can find it online. Just
google up Glenwick Cavern's Adventure Park death and you'll find
the state report so thoroughly researched.
Speaker 4 (30:18):
That investigation was done so well, and what the State.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Of Colorado found there is there was a safety system
in effect when when that red light warning light showed
up for wan Gel and the word means gospel for
that six year old seat, there's a warning light and
its warning of a seatbelt problem, and the ride saved her.
The ride would not allow the operator to launch her
(30:42):
without her belt on. But then what happened, according to
the state report and the evidence obviously you know, supported
it a trial, is that a workaround was done around
the safety system.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
But here's here's key.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
In my opinion, the way I interpret what happened at
trial and this very appropriate, well reasoned verdict, is that
park officials testified everything the operators did and did not
do was according to their training, and so you had
this evidence, as excuse me reported by the state report,
(31:15):
of this work around the safety system that would have
saved her. And the way I interpret that this very
well reasoned jury verdict is a message to this park
and all others out there, No, don't do that kind
of work around. Honor the warning light. Make sure you
follow the mandatory safety rules and train the operators to
(31:36):
do it right. The state concluded and testify a trial
the operators were not properly trained in how to respond
to a warning light.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
And I think this jury verdict was.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Allowed message and appropriate message to this park in every
park in America. No train your people, train your people
how to respond to these warning lights. Train your people
not to work around these safety systems. I think that
that's the way I interpreted this jury message, and that
ride has a safety system and it should.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Have been honored.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
So that's why ninety nine percent of this verdict went
to corporate entities, not to the operators. It came down
in the jury's mind and very well grounded to this
fatal failure to properly train. So read the state report
if you want to get the state's explanation on that
let's go to steven Colorado Springs here on the dan
(32:27):
Kaplis show.
Speaker 9 (32:28):
Welcome you'd have any accouncil campus.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
How you doing, my friend?
Speaker 10 (32:31):
Part good.
Speaker 9 (32:33):
Part of the question I had, I think was answered.
My question while I was on hold was what exactly
was the training protocol for the operators? As my understanding was,
there were two operators and they both ignored the warning
the seat belt was not a cast and she was
sitting on Yes, sir, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (32:53):
No, I think you're right, And that's why I've said
that the testimony of the state investigator, and the state
did a tremendous detail investigation and Descott in a Row
testified a trial who was then the head of the
amusement park program. And so this testimony of the state
that the operators were not properly trained on how to
respond to these warning lights and that the operators did
(33:15):
a work around. Again, that's why ninety nine percent of
this verdict, this was a two hundred and five million
dollar verdict one hundred and twenty three million in punitive
damages against the corporate owner of the amusement park. And
my personal belief is that it was driven by the
training issue, because, as the state concluded, these operators weren't
(33:36):
trained to properly respond to the warning light. And then
you had this workaround done, and then you had the
testimony of the park that, hey, everything they did was
according to their training. I think this was allowed and
appropriate and necessary message through the punitive damages award, no
honor the mandatory safety rules. Trained people properly do not
(33:59):
train any kind of work around. So that's why I
say this verdict will save lives. It was completely supported
by the evidence. It was rational and well reasoned and necessary,
and it will save lives. As I told the jury, Ryan,
I know we're out of time, so I apologize to
other calls I can't get to. As I told the
jury in closing, you could allow a billion dollars in
(34:23):
punitive damages and it would not be too much in
a situation like this.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
That was my strong belief and it still is.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
And the parents are so very grateful to this jury
for doing justice because their mission from day one. They
never want another parent to go through what they're going through,
and they never want another child lost this way. They
wanted to punitive damages used to make the world safer
and it will here. Thank you Ryan, thank you Kell
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