New civil trial ordered in Army training death

HONOLULU (AP) — A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial in a lawsuit filed by the family of a Texas soldier who was killed and others who were injured during a live-fire exercise in Hawaii.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling overturned a jury verdict that found the manufacturer of mortar cartridges not liable for causing the 2006 explosion that killed Staff Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez.

The 27-year-old from Beeville, Texas, was hit by shrapnel at the Pohakuloa Training Area. He was supervising the firing of two mortars when a shell detonated. The lawsuit was filed in 2008 against General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Inc., claiming the shell was defective. The plaintiffs appealed the jury’s verdict.

The appeals court issued a ruling on March 7 that the trial court was wrong to allow an Army investigator to give expert testimony as a lay witness.