A Las Vegas jury rejected a lawsuit by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) against an exercise band maker he claimed was responsible for his injuries, including blindness in one eye.
The eight-member civil jury determined that Reid did not prove he had been using a TheraBand device when he fell face-first four years ago after losing his grip, according to The Associated Press.
The jury made its decision after eight days of testimony. Jury members did not see the actual device because Reid’s son, an attorney, got rid of it after Reid’s fall.
{mosads}”I may not agree with the outcome, but I agree with the way we got there,” Reid’s lawyer, James Wilkes II, told the AP.
Reid, 79, and his wife, Landra Gould, were not present when the verdict was read, according to the outlet. Reid had used a wheelchair throughout trial, the AP reported, following treatment for pancreatic cancer and back surgery.
TheraBand lawyer Laurin Quiat said the company stood behind the product.
“My client always believed in the product, believes that the product is safe, is not unreasonably dangerous for anyone, and they stand behind it,” he told the wire service. “That’s all I have to say.”
Reid and Gould were seeking damages and sought to tell the public that the product was not safe for elderly people to use.
Reid testified that his injuries were “the main factor” in his decision not to seek reelection in 2016. Quiat, however, pointed out that Reid said in 2015 that his decision had “absolutely nothing to do with my injury.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) took over Reid’s Senate seat in 2017.