Prince George's County Jury Awards Christine Woods $750,000 After Justice Center Fall

A Prince George’s County jury has awarded $750,000 to Christine Woods after a fall on uneven brick pavement outside the Hyattsville Justice Center on June 30, 2022, the jury finding evidence of permanent injuries that warranted compensatory damages. The award covers medical expenses, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and permanent loss of quality of life, according to materials filed in the case.

The trial took place in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland, where jurors deliberated for approximately 15 minutes before returning the $750,000 verdict. The amount matched the sum requested during closing arguments by Attorney Jordan D. Howlette of the firm Justly Prudent; Howlette is identified in court materials as Managing Attorney Jordan D. Howlette.

Court materials characterize the $750,000 as compensatory damages only, and they list the damage categories without assigning a numerical breakdown across medical costs, lost earnings, or other categories. The filings describe Woods as having “sustained permanent injuries” after falling on the uneven brick pavement outside the Hyattsville Justice Center and indicate the jury reached its award on the basis of evidence presented at trial.

Managing Attorney Jordan D. Howlette issued statements following the verdict. “No one should be permanently disabled because their local government failed to maintain a sidewalk outside its own courthouse,” Howlette said. He added, “Christine Woods went to a public building and left with injuries that changed her life forever. This verdict tells Prince George’s County and every municipality that neglecting basic safety has consequences. We are grateful the jury saw this case for what it was and delivered justice for Ms. Woods in full.”

Publicly available materials associated with the case do not identify the legal defendant by name, nor do they provide a court docket number or a detailed monetary allocation for the compensatory categories. One version of the filings described the location as the “Hyattsville Justice Center and County Services Building (5012 Rhode” but the street name and number were truncated in that text and cannot be confirmed from the materials on file.

The verdict provides Woods with a $750,000 jury award for losses sustained in a June 30, 2022 incident outside the Hyattsville Justice Center, while key procedural details remain unconfirmed in the public materials. Court records from the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County will be needed to verify the named defendant, the official case caption and docket number, and whether the jury award will be entered as a final judgment or subject to post-trial motions or appeal.