Overview
- On Dec. 31, the Illinois First District Appellate Court affirmed a 2023 jury verdict awarding $2.8 million to Sandra Kolalou for injuries from a 2018 Chicago Transit Authority bus crash.
- The CTA and its driver had admitted negligence, and trial judges kept details of Kolalou’s then‑pending murder case from jurors to avoid bias, including allowing a video deposition in civilian clothing under the name Sandra White.
- Appellate judges rejected CTA claims that incarceration made future damages speculative, noting the agency never obtained a stay of the civil case and failed to present admissible evidence to negate those damages.
- Kolalou was convicted in April 2024 of murdering and dismembering her landlord and was sentenced in July 2024 to a total of 58 years in prison, with a projected parole date in July 2076 reported in coverage.
- Because Illinois repealed its “pay‑to‑stay” statute in 2019, the state cannot sue Kolalou to recoup prison costs, a context highlighted alongside an IDOC estimate of roughly $46,000 per inmate per year.