A jury in Sacramento Superior Court awarded the survivors of Jennifer Lea Strange $16.57 million as a result of her death nearly three years ago from KDND/Sacramento's "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" contest. The seven-man, five-woman jury found that Entercom Sacramento was negligent in putting on the contest that led to Strange's death from water intoxication, according to the Sacramento Bee. The award is actually much less than lawyers for Strange's family were seeking - they had asked the jury for an award for economic and non-economic damages in the range of $34 million to $44.3 million. However, plaintiffs' lawyer Roger A. Dreyer said he believes it is the largest wrongful death award ever presented by a jury in Sacramento.

Plaintiffs attorneys filed the wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Jennifer's husband, William Strange, individually and as guardian of their two young children, Ryland, 6, and Jorie, 3; and Ronald Sims, the father and guardian of the women's oldest son, Keegan, 13. While the plaintiff's lawyers claimed that the defendants were negligent in holding the contest, defense attorneys countered that Strange's death was unforeseeable and that if there was any liability on the part of the Entercom defendants, it had to be offset by the woman's own "contributory negligence."

Since the trial began on September 8, 41 witnesses testified and lawyers entered 192 exhibits into evidence. The case went to the jury on October 15 after attorneys for both sides concluded their closing arguments. The panel deliberated over nine court days before returning its verdict.

"I think the message of the verdict is these stations need to be more cognizant of what they're doing and they need to take the time to do the research to make sure no one's harmed," juror La Teshia Paggett said in an interview, according to the Bee. Strange's attorney, Dreyer, commented, "This case has always been about accountability, and today this jury verdict establishes without question accountability and provides for this family some tremendous level of relief. We never thought Jennifer did anything that would legally rise to a level of responsibility."

A spokesman for Entercom, Charles Sipkins, said in a statement, "We respect the jury's decision and hope that it will assist the Strange family in coping with its loss." Sipkins declined to comment when asked if the company planned to appeal or ask the judge to reduce the award, the Bee said.