A man left paralyzed by the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash was awarded $22.9 million yesterday by an advisory jury in Brooklyn federal court, but a judge will decide what he gets.
James McMillan, 44, was not in the courtroom for the verdict, but his mother, Eva, said, “God is good, but I would rather have him whole.”
Judge Jack Weinstein will take the verdict into consideration when deciding the award.
The jury found that McMillan would live for another 25 years, and awarded him the money to cover medical costs and for pain and suffering.
“We went through it very methodically to make sure he was taken care of, but not to give him anything crazy,” said one Long Island juror who did not want to give his name.