Top trial verdicts of 2023: Maya Kowalski

Last month, a Florida jury awarded more than $260 million in damages and punitive damages to the family of Maya Kowalski, a 17-year-old girl who alleged in a 2018 civil suit that the actions of staff at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JAHC) in St. Petersburg ultimately drove Maya's mother, Beata Kowalski, to suicide in 2017. The case attracted national attention after the release of Netflix's "Take Care of Maya" documentary.

The jury found that JHAC had falsely imprisoned Maya, fraudulently billed her family and caused them severe emotional distress. The jury also determined that social worker Catherine Bedy had battered Maya and that Dr. Sally Smith had medically neglected Maya, who was 10 years old when she was admitted to JHAC for a rare medical condition.