Mark T. Packo. Photo: Melanie Bell/ALM.

Obtaining a $2.25 million verdict for the family of a man killed by a drunk driver wasn't as straightforward as it might have seemed for Boca Raton lawyers Mark T. Packo and Michael Westheimer of Ged Lawyers because jurors couldn't hear the most inflammatory evidence.

Because the defense had stimulated to causation and liability, the damages-only trial lasted three days and featured only three witnesses. So Packo and Westheimer had to get creative.

"How do you put on a short trial with a widow and her children as your only witnesses, and yet have a jury appreciate the magnitude of the loss and come up with an appropriate award within the limits of your presentation?" Packo said.

George Morreale was riding his vintage 1970s Schwinn bicycle April 6, 2014, as he did every Sunday morning, when a pickup truck ended his life.

The truck initially left the scene, but returned after the passenger and driver switched places, according to Packo, who said the resulting DUI investigation was fraught with twists and turns.

Though both appeared heavily intoxicated, investigators focused only on who they thought was the driver, charging her with DUI vehicular manslaughter. Meanwhile, the actual driver, Paul Maida, wasn't tested.

More than a year later, prosecutors zeroed in on Maida as he admitted through texts and emails that he was the driver. But without any toxicology evidence against him, jurors acquitted him of DUI manslaughter and convicted him of reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death.

Morreale's widow Lois Morreale sued Maida for negligence in 2016. He's serving a 12-year prison sentence and refused to appear at the trial, according to Packo, who used the case to home in on his clients' personal tragedies.

'Angry with God'

Morreales died eight days before his 66th birthday and the day before an appointment with the social security office to discuss retiring with full benefits, according to Packo.

"Right as they're there, at the finish line, as they're about to start settling into the rest of their lives together, out of the blue he's taken from her," Packo said.

The couple met as teenagers and were devout Catholics — something that became a major theme in the case as Lois Morreale testified that she hadn't been back to church since her husband died.

"I asked her, 'Why?' And she said, 'Because I'm angry with God.' I asked her again, 'Why?' She said, 'We did everything right, lived by the rules, did everything we were supposed to do and here we are. God took George from me,' " Packo said. " So I was able to argue that, in addition to losing her husband, she lost her faith."

Packo fashioned his closing arguments in the style of Catholic wedding vows, reminding jurors that for better or worse, in sickness and in health, this couple had promised to take care of each other.

Morreale's wife had also been diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy, which Packo and Westheimer argued was all the more grueling without her spouse.

Defense attorneys Mark Baxter and Stephen Knoerr of Knoerr & Emanuel's West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale offices declined to comment on the case.

They have moved for a new trial, arguing jurors should have heard that Maida was in prison over Morreale's death, and that they shouldn't have heard details about the plaintiff's cancer.

The defense initially planned to put an expert accountant on the stand to testify about how much money Morreales, a carpenter, might have spent of his retirement benefits, according to Packo, who said getting down to nickels and dimes could have inflamed the jury.

"I effectively dared them to put them person on the stand and they elected not to," Packo said.

Jurors awarded $608,000 in economic damages and $1.65 million for loss of companionship.

Packo said he broke a "cardinal rule" for the second time in his career by picking a staff attorney as a juror.

"I'm a big believer that conventional thinking brings conventional results," Packo said. "So I'm willing to bend or even break what are the cardinal rules under the right circumstances."

Read the verdict:

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