UPDATE:
6:35 p.m.
A jury in Las Vegas rejected former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's lawsuit against an exercise band maker he blamed for injuries including blindness in one eye suffered in January 2015.
After eight days of civil trial testimony, the eight-member jury deliberated about an hour before declaring Friday that Reid never proved the device he used that day was a TheraBand made by Ohio-based Hygenic Corp.
Jurors never saw the actual exercise band because Reid's son disposed of it soon after Reid was injured.
Reid testified the stretchy device slipped from his grasp, and he fell and was seriously injured.
The 79-year-old former Democratic Party leader and wife, Landra Gould, weren't in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
Their lawyer, James Wilkes II, says he respects the jury's decision.
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5:05 p.m.
A jury in Las Vegas is deliberating whether an exercise band maker is to blame for blindness in one eye and other injuries former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid suffered when a stretchy device he was using slipped from his grasp and he fell in January 2015.
Attorneys closed the case Friday in Reid's civil damages lawsuit in Nevada state court against Ohio-based TheraBand maker Hygenic Corp.
The 79-year-old former Democratic party leader used a wheelchair during the two-week trial, after treatment for pancreatic cancer and back surgery.
His attorneys dropped a negligence claim after several days of testimony that began March 27.
Reid and his wife, Landra, seek damages because they say the product is defective and the company failed to warn the public the device is dangerous for elderly people like Reid.
(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Original Story: A lawyer for an elastic exercise band maker blamed U.S. Sen. Harry Reid for his own serious injuries, including blindness in one eye, suffered when he lost his grip and fell while using a flexible device in 2015.
Attorney Laurin Quiat told a civil trial jury in Las Vegas on Tuesday that congressional exercise advisers tried for months to get the former Democratic party leader to improve his stance, balance and technique for using the resistance bands.
Quiat concluded opening statements telling jurors that just because someone gets hurt doesn't mean someone else is responsible.
Quiat also says jurors will never know for sure if Reid was using his company's exercise product, called TheraBand, because Reid family members threw out the one he used the day he was hurt.
The 79-year-old former Senate Democratic party leader and his wife, Landra Gould, seek damages from Ohio-based Hygenic Intangible Property Holding Co. and subsidiaries that make the product called TheraBand.
Reid's lawsuit alleges negligence and calls the elastic physical resistance band defective and unreasonably dangerous, particularly for the elderly.
The company says Reid got hurt because he misused the exercise band.
(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
