The government argues those flashes were caused by sunlight glinting off debris in the compound. A wrongful death claim is a civil action that occurs when someone is killed as a result of the negligence, recklessness or intentional act of another. Such lawsuits are usually brought by the victims' families. The families are entitled to monetary damages as a result of the wrongful act. But the judge has taken the fairly unusual step of calling for a jury to serve in an advisory capacity to help him sift through the evidence and make findings of fact, said Sol Wisenberg, a Washington attorney who has closely observed the case.
Judges have discretion to ask that such juries be seated.
But in this case, Smith does not have to accept the jury's findings, said Wisenberg, a Texas prosecutor before he entered private practice. Until 1946, when the Federal Tort Claims Act was passed, the government could not be sued because it has sovereign immunity, a doctrine that absolved actions that could be construed as wrong, he said. The Tort Claims Act allows citizens to sue but specifies that trials against the government could not be decided by juries, Wisenberg said. Come Monday, the attorneys on both sides will begin questioning people to sit on the advisory jury. The trial is expected to last several weeks.