Sergeant Noble Taylor of the Nashville Metro Police Department was one of the members of the jury, and while he had served on juries before, he said this one was much more emotional.
“She wasn’t the woman that you would normally see on ESPN,” Taylor said of Andrews. “She was a victim.”
Taylor said while the facts of the case helped the jury make their decision, the emotional testimony of the trial is what stuck with him.
“It was trying times.” Taylor explained. “IT was more trying for her of course, but I’m thinking, just the amount of emotion I put into this thing in these 10 days, I couldn’t imagine what she went through for 8 years, and what she has to go through for the rest of her life. I can’t imagine.”
Taylor lobbied for the jury to award Andrews the full $75 million she requested, but compromised with the rest of the jury at $55 million, 51% attributed to Michael Barrett, the man convicted of stalking and videotaping Andrews, and 49% attributed to the hotel owner and the hotel operator.
“Barrett was more the blame.” Taylor said. “He’s the guy who did some things, but things could have been avoided. Lots of things could have been avoided.”
The verdict could have large implications on the hotel industry, as well as any other industry that deals with personal and private information.
“I was thrilled.” Susan Neal Dickerson of Bone McAllester Norton PLLC said. “I was really proud of Nashville.”
Dickerson said that the case was ultimately about a woman’s right to privacy and a woman’s right to feel secure.
“I think Ms. Andrews, by bringing this lawsuit and for the Nashville jury for awarding the amount that it did and for apportioning fault the way it did, really validated that a woman has a right to privacy, and when it’s violated, that is a tremendous injury.”
Dickerson continued to say, “It’s holding people accountable when they could have done more to prevent harm.”
Taylor agreed, saying he hopes the verdict will cause people to make a change to protect other peoples’ private information so things like what happened to Erin Andrews won’t happen again.
Taylor also said he hopes Andrews will be able to recover from this traumatic event. “She’s a woman. She’s a person. Treat her better.” Taylor proclaimed.
Taylor said after the verdict, he was able to share a few words with Andrews, and he said during the duration of the trial, he became friends with the other jurors, and they plan to stay in touch.
