Mwani v. United States

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Mwani v. United States. Read the opinion of the Court — 947 F. Supp. 2d 1
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided September 25, 2014·No. Civil Action No. 1999-0125·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ODILLA MUTAKA MWANI, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v. Civil Action No. 99-125 (JMF)

AL QAEDA,

Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

From January 31 through February 2, 2011, the Court conducted a “bellwether” trial 1 on

damages. 2 Although the total number of plaintiffs in this case is 523, 3 only the claims of the

following eight plaintiffs went to trial: 1) Abel Mutego Nijru; 2) Felistus Njeri Thuo; 3) Castro

Otiende; 4) Protus Manyasa Buluma; 5) Dipak L. Shah; 6) Wilfred Nderitu; 7) Charles Makori

Mogi; and 8) Kioko Muema. Testimony was taken via videoconference from Nairobi, Kenya,

and the Court admitted the following exhibits into evidence: 1) Photographs (Plaintiffs’

Exhibit (“PX”) 1); 2) Video of Bombing Site August 7, 1998 (PX 2); 3) April 9, 1999 Report

from the Department of State, captioned “The Bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar

Es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya” (PX 3); 4) January 8, 1999 Accountability Review

1 “In a bellwether trial procedure, a random sample of cases large enough to yield reliable results is tried to a jury. A judge, jury, or participating lawyers use the resulting verdicts as a basis for resolving the remaining cases.” Alexandra D. Lahav, Bellwether Trials, 76 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 576, 577 (2008). A bellwether trial may be binding or not binding on the other plaintiffs. If it is binding, the results of the bellwether trial are extrapolated to the other plaintiffs who have similar factual circumstances and/or injuries. Id. at 581. This method has been used in other multi-plaintiff cases stemming from terrorist-related events. See Dammarell v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 404 F. Supp. 2d 261, 271 n.1 (D.D.C. 2005). 2 There are three transcripts of the proceedings: 1) Transcript of Proceedings on January 31, 2011 [#119]; 2) Transcript of Proceedings on February 1, 2011 [#118]; and 3) Transcript of Proceedings on February 2, 2011 [#103]. 3 Plaintiffs’ Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law [#105] at 29. Board Report (PX 4); 5) Kiema-Ngunnzi Report: “An Assessment of Recovery Strategies of

the 1998 Nairobi Bomb Disaster Victims: A Case Study of Teachers Service Commission” (PX

5); 6) World Psychiatry Study: “Psychological Effects of the Nairobi U.S. Embassy Bomb

Blast on Pregnant Women and their Children” (PX 6); and 7) a drawing of the site (PX 7).

On the basis of that evidence, the court makes the following findings of fact and

conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

I. Background

1. On August 7, 1998, Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda exploded a massive truck

bomb at the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Mwani v. bin Laden, 417 F.3d 1, 4 (D.C.

Cir. 2005).

2. According to the State Department’s 1999 Report of the bombing, the incident

took place as follows:

At approximately 10:30AM on Friday, August 7, 1998, two vehicle bombs detonated nearly simultaneously at United States embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. The United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was located on a half-acre site in downtown Nairobi at the busy intersection of two main thoroughfares, Moi and Haille Selassie Avenues. Behind the embassy was the four-story Ufundi Cooperative House, with numerous offices and a secretarial school, and the 23- story high- rise Cooperative Bank building . . .

At the rear of the embassy was a parking lot shared with the adjacent Cooperative Bank . . . (After entering the parking area), one of the terrorists began shooting at the chancery and the other tossed a flash grenade at the guard . . . Approximately 10 seconds after the grenade exploded, the bomb in the vehicle detonated . . . The explosion killed 213 people, including 44 embassy employees . . . Many of these fatalities were due to occupants going to the windows after the grenade exploded to see what was happening

2 outside.

Other casualties were pedestrians and motorists in the crowded streets next to the embassy. Vehicles caught fire; at least eight bus passengers died. In total, 20 persons were blinded, and 50 have severely limited sight from lacerations incurred from flying shards of glass; the actual count of eye injuries is in the hundreds, but the severity of many will not become apparent for some time. The shock of the explosion broke glass in buildings and vehicles within at least a quarter-mile radius. The collapse of the Ufundi building confirms the extreme hazard posed by building collapse. The majority of the fatalities were persons trapped and crushed under the weight of the building after falling several stories . . .

Given the types of injuries most prevalent in these incidents, non- penetrating fragment impact is probably the most appropriate injury model for severe injuries. A radius of 200 feet indicates that all people within a one-half block radius (not protected by buffering walls) were vulnerable to injury from flying debris . . . For glass injuries, the radius is 1000 feet. Reports indicate that injuries due to glass fragments extended somewhat further out than this model predicts.

PX 3 at 9265, 9273, 9275, 9277-80.

II. Plaintiffs

A. Abel Mutegi Nijru and Felistus Njeri Thuo

1. Njiru was killed in the Embassy bombing. [#119] at 5.

2. Thuo was also killed in the Embassy bombing. [#118] at 46.

3. Both Njiru and Thuo were named as plaintiffs in this action, but must be

dismissed since they, as deceased individuals, lack the capacity to sue. See Adelsberger v.

U.S., 58 Fed. Cl. 616, 618 (Fed. Cl. 2003) (“[A] party must have a legal existence as a

prerequisite to having the capacity to sue or be sued.) (citations omitted).

B. Castro Otiende

1. Otiende is 44 years old, married, and has four daughters. [#103] at 48.

3 2. Otiende received a degree in land economics from the University of Nairobi in

1991. Id. at 50-51. He started work in 1993 in a land appraisal office near the American

Embassy. Id. at 52-53.

3. On August 7, 1998, Otiende heard some gunshots and then a small blast. Id. at

57. He believes he lost consciousness and then found himself in the stairwell with others trying

to leave the building. Id. at 58. He was bleeding profusely from flying glass that cut his neck

and chest. Id. at 57, 59. He then walked to his family doctor, received stitches and took public

transportation home. Id. at 60.

4. Despite receiving plastic surgery after the bombing, Otiende suffered permanent

scarring from the glass cuts. Id. at 62. He also feels a sharp pain in his ears when he hears a

slight noise and is jumpy. Id.

5. Otiende believes that people are afraid of him because of the scarring. Id. at 63.

He also believes that some people in Kenya regard him as being unlucky or being bad luck

because he was a victim of the Embassy bombing. Id. at 63-64.

C. Protus Manyasa Buluma

1. Buluma is 51 years old, married, and has five children. [#119] at 55, 65.

2. Buluma was raised in western Kenya until he was 15. Id. at 56.

3. Buluma has two brothers and three sisters. Id. at 56-57.

4. Buluma attended grammar school and completed his “A” level studies in

seminary. Id. at 58. He then went to the Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi, and then to

Nairobi University, where he received a certificate in religious studies. Id.

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