By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Nearly 12 years after University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love was found dead in her off-campus apartment, the man who was convicted of second-degree murder in her killing is headed back to court for a civil trial in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Yeardley’s mother.
FILE – In a March 8, 2009, photo, University of Virginia women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love works with the ball in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/The Daily Progress, Andrew Shurtleff, File)
Jury selection is expected in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Monday in a trial that will seek to hold George Huguely liable in the death of Love. The lawsuit seeks $29.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.
Love and Huguely were both seniors who were weeks away from graduating. They were known for their play on UVA’s nationally ranked men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, but they were also known for their volatile relationship.
Prosecutors said Huguely kicked a hole in Love’s bedroom door, then beat her after a day of golf and binge drinking, enraged that she had had a relationship with a lacrosse player from North Carolina.
A medical examiner concluded that the 22-year-old Love died of blunt force trauma to her head, but defense and prosecution experts offered differing medical opinions on the lethal consequences of her injuries.
The civil trial is expected to include many of the same witnesses, although many of them are expected to testify in videotaped depositions instead of in person.
Huguely’s attorney, Matthew Green, said the defense will acknowledge that Huguely’s assault and battery caused Love’s death and that her family is entitled to compensatory damages in an amount to be decided by the jury. But he said the defense does not believe punitive damages are appropriate.
Green said Huguely is expected to testify. He said Huguely will be brought to court from prison on the day he is scheduled to testify, but not on the other days of the trial.
