Closing Arguments Held In Family's Lawsuit Against West Penn Power
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Closing arguments were held Wednesday in a lawsuit against West Penn Power.
The family of Carrie Goretzka is suing over a power line that fell on the woman and killed her in 2009.
The jury will decide if West Penn Power was negligent in the way it installed and maintained the power line outside of Goretzka's home in Irwin.
The trial has been going on for three weeks. It's been at times dry and technical, but at other times highly emotional.
The lives of Michael Goretzka and his daughters, 8-year-old Chloe and 6-year-old Carlie changed forever on June 2, 2009, when a power line, with 7,200 volts in it, snapped and killed Carrie Goretzka.
Her two daughters watched in horror as their mother laid on the ground and burned.
Her husband, Michael, declined comment Wednesday. But he testified that the power line had posed a danger for years.
Goretzka says he contacted West Penn Power numerous times both by phone and by mail after the same power line fell in his back yard twice before, burning the lawn and trees.
During closing arguments, West Penn Power's attorney argued that the line had been properly maintained. He questioned why Goretzka went near the troubled power line and put herself in harm's way.
The jury is likely to get the case Thursday.
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