Appellate court upholds $9.85 million to woman struck by bus

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois appellate court has upheld the award of nearly $10 million to a woman who lost her legs after being struck in 2015 by a Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus.

A Champaign County jury last year awarded Patricia Marxmiller of Mahomet $9.4 million and $450,000 in damages to her husband.

The 4th District Appellate Court on Thursday turned down an appeal of the award by the transit district's insurer. The company's lawyers questioned instructions given the jury by Judge Michael Jones.

The insurer contended Jones finding before jury deliberations that MTD was liable in the accident was misleading and prejudicial. Jones had determined Marxmiller wasn't more than half at fault in the accident

The other instruction at issue involved whether separate categories permitted for both pain and suffering and emotional distress allowed for a double recovery of damages.