Sacramento jury awards $33.3 million to physics student injured by a falling tree branch in 2020

A jury in Sacramento, California, has ordered city authorities to pay $33.3 million (£25.6 million) to a former physics student who suffered a serious brain injury when a 30-foot dead tree branch fell on him while he was jogging through a city park. Michael Flynn, then 28, was jogging along a public walking path around McKinley Park in April 2020 when the large branch broke off an unmaintained tree and struck him.After a personal injury trial in Superior Court, a jury found the City of Sacramento 100 per cent responsible for the accident. The jury concluded that city officials had failed to maintain public trees and had ignored basic safety inspection procedures. Court filings published on October 9, 2026, and reporting by CBS Sacramento confirmed that the jury awarded Flynn $33.3 million in total damages. The money is intended to cover ongoing medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and lost future earnings.Life-altering injuries and academic perseveranceThe falling branch caused severe head injuries and long-term problems affecting Flynn's brain and nervous system. "I look back on the period immediately following the accident. It was an extremely bleak period of my life. It was, ver...