The family of a school teacher from Plainfield who died while recovering from injuries she received after being struck by a pickup truck while crossing a town street has received a $1.2 million settlement after experts from the Reardon Law Firm debunked the findings of a police accident reconstruction team and the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The wrongful death lawsuit brought by the estate of Catherine Kerr was headed to trial in October in New London Superior Court when it was resolved during mediation before Judge Robert A. Martin.

Kerr, 61, a third-grade teacher at St. Patrick Cathedral School in Norwich, was struck by a pickup truck on Sept. 29, 2013, as she crossed Prospect Street in Moosup after leaving the All Hallows Church.

She suffered broken ribs, a punctured arm and fractures of the arm, neck and skull, according to a news release issued Thursday by New London attorney Robert I. Reardon Jr.

Discharged from the hospital after 20 days to recuperate at home, she died on Nov. 6, 2013, when she attempted to stand up.

The police were never able to interview Kerr, according to Reardon, and accepted the claim of the pickup driver, James Gudeahn of Moosup, that he was driving 15 mph and it was too late for him to stop when he saw Kerr crossing outside of the crosswalk.

She was thrown more than 30 feet.

After her death, the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and concluded Kerr died from "natural causes" due to a clogged artery and her critical injuries played no role in her death.

Her husband, John Kerr, was outraged when the police determined his wife of 25 years, who he said was always careful, was at fault in the accident, according to Reardon.

John Kerr had told police investigators that Catherine Kerr's first words when she regained consciousness at the hospital were, "I was crossing in the crosswalk and I don't know what happened after that."

The husband also did not accept the medical examiner's findings because his wife had been in good health.

Retained by John Kerr, the Reardon firm recovered the black box from Gudeahn's Chevrolet Silverado, which was still impounded, and arranged for Matthew Brauch, an accident reconstruction engineer, to reconstruct the crash using black box data and physical evidence from the scene.

Brauch determined the pickup truck was going in excess of 15 mph and Gudeahn had an unobstructed line of sight for over 200 feet and ample time to stop when he saw Catherine Kerr in the crosswalk.

The law firm then retained Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist, to conduct a microscopic analysis of Catherine's Kerr's artery, which had been preserved in formaldehyde at the state lab.

The doctor concluded the artery was not blocked as the medical examiner had observed and found that the severe, traumatic injuries to the left side of Catherin Kerr's chest had caused the delayed sudden onset of cardiac arrhythmia as she attempted to stand from a prone position.

"It was fortunate we got on this case before the evidence disappeared," Reardon said in a phone interview Thursday.

Confronted with the findings, Gudeahn's insurance company, Quincy Mutual Insurance Co., agreed to the settlement.

The firm's attorney Renee Dwyer of the Conway Stoughton law firm of West Hartford, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Kerr family is pleased with the outcome of the case, Reardon said.

"This case demonstrates that while police investigators and the state pathologists generally do a very good job, a thorough, independent investigation can sometimes bring facts to the surface that the authorities have not considered," he said. "We are pleased we could help the Kerr family and bring an end to the tragic ordeal they have experienced."

k.florin@theday.com