High school football coaches around the country are probably cheering tonight after a Kentucky jury acquitted Jason Stimson of the reckless homicide and wanton endangerment he was charged with in the death of a 15-year-old sophomore whom he had run sprints on a hot day of football practice in August 2008.

The larger question, however, is what – if anything – coaches and players will learn from the tragedy and its aftermath.

The 15-year-old’s death certificate listed heat stroke complications as the cause of his death, complicated by septic shock and multiple organ failure.

The football player’s death prompted Kentucky’s Legislature to pass a bill (HB 383) that now requires the state’s:

Gilpin’s death also prompted the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) to develop a “Heat Injury and Illness Protection Program” with the Kentucky Medical Association.

Although passage of this bill was too late to save their son, his death may help save the lives of other student athletes in the state if coaches and school personnel realize that heat can kill, and that their students’ safety is paramount.

It should come as no surprise that Gilpin’s death prompted his family to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Stinson, their son’s football coach.  Although the coach was found not guilty of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in Gilpin’s death, the legal standard in a civil case requires Max’s family to prove that the preponderance of evidence shows that the coach’s action, or inaction, led to their son’s death.

This is a much lower legal threshold than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required to find guilt in the criminal case.

Remember when O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman? Goldman’s parents and Brown Simpson’s father subsequently won a wrongful death lawsuit against Simpson before a civil jury that ordered him to pay $12.5 million in damages to Brown and his grandchildren for killing his daughter and the children’s mother.

The same legal scenario could play out against Stinson in Kentucky.

Related Resources:

You Don’t Have To Solve This on Your Own – Get a Lawyer’s Help

Civil Rights

Block on Trump’s Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court

Criminal

Judges Can Release Secret Grand Jury Records

Politicians Can’t Block Voters on Facebook, Court Rules