Three pool accidents net large jury awards.

In early June, three lawsuits totaling more than $12 million were settled in favor of victims who died or were injured in pool-related accidents.

In Tucson, Ariz., a jury awarded Jennifer Ward $6 million for the death of her daughter, Ashley. On August 16, 2003, the 4-year-old girl drowned in a spa at the Catalina Canyon Apartments while her mother was in labor at a nearby hospital. Ward had left Ashley in the care of two family friends, Misty and James Golder, both of whom lost sight of the girl at the time of the incident.

In November 2004, Misty Golder pleaded guilty to a child-abuse charge and received two years' probation. However, Ward also filed a suit against St. Thomas Properties and the Paul Ash Management Co., claiming that some lights in the spa, pool and surrounding areas were left inoperable despite being reported as such by tenants at least a month prior to the accident.

The jury found the property owner and management company 70 percent liable; the Golders were 30 percent responsible. The award will be split according to those percentages.

"The lesson for [operators] is that the lights had been out for a month or more," said Kevin M. Arnold, Ward's attorney. "That, I assume, was an inexcusable situation to the jury."

In another lawsuit, Michael V. Luster received a $2.5 million judgment in his case against Memphis (Tenn.) Landings Apartments and its management companies. In April 2003, Luster was paralyzed from the waist down ...