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KATU-TV PORTLAND, OREGON WATCHVIDEO A jury in Multnomah County awarded more than $2 million Wednesday to a woman who said she was sexually abused while being transported in an ambulance operated by American Medical Response, a primary ambulance operator in the Portland area. Royshekka Herring, 29, was awarded $1.75 million in non-economic damages and another $500,000 for negligence against a vulnerable person, as she was laying in the ambulance during the time of the abuse. She had sought $5.5 million in the case. Herring said she was molested by Lannie Haszard, who was convicted in 2008 of inappropriately touching four women. He was sentenced to five years in prison for fondling Herring and three other women. Herring testified that Haszard put his hands down her pants twice while she was conscious but incapacitated while in the ambulance. Three other women had made claims regarding sexually inappropriate behavior by Haszard two years before Herring's incident. The jury also agreed that AMR could have prevented the abuse to Herring since three other women had complained about sexually inappropriate behavior by Haszard in the two years before the incident with Herring. On seven questions, including the damage amounts, the jury voted unanimously on six. American Medical Response Northwest, Inc. and American Medical Response, Inc. were both listed as defendants in the case. The jury will reconvene Thursday to decide on punitive damages, which could reach $7 million.
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