Jury awards $16 million to family in fatal radio prank

[CoolBreeze]

A Sacramento jury today awarded $16 million to the family of a woman who died during a 2007 radio station contest gone awry.

The Sacramento County Superior Court jury concluded that Entercom Sacramento, which operates KDND-FM (107.9) "The End," was negligent after ignoring several warnings that a morning show contest could have fatal consequences, according to KTXL-TV (Channel 40) in Sacramento.

Jennifer Strange, a mother of three from suburban Rancho Cordova, died of apparent water intoxication hours after a failed attempt to win a Nintendo Wii video game system for her children in a promotion dubbed "Hold Your Wee for a Wii."

A tape of the program, known as the "Morning Rave" on KDND, revealed that the potential fatal effects of drinking too much water were raised during the course of the contest, with one on-air host mentioning the 2005 death of a college student during a hazing ritual in Chico. A listener also called in to advise against the stunt.

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[genlock]

In addition, the judge should have awarded the family the radio station license and the physical assets
of that station. Otherwise Entercom just has the insurance company pay the bill.

[Jet Black]

This is a travesty of justice! I predict this decision will be overtrned on appeal; after all, the station dared her to drink all that water, but there is no evidence whatsoever that the station double-dog dared her. The devil is in the details!

[Rock]

I'm with JB.

[Lester]

Another nail in the coffin of personal responsibility.

[Bob Campbell]

Raise your hand if you've ever done that contest. I know I did it in Akron, only we used Sundrop soda that had been sitting in the basement for a decade because we wanted somebody to hurl.
Steve Weed, the PD at The End then was my boss in Detroit for part of my tenure at WCZY.