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A Multnomah County jury decided to award a Portland Community College student no money after a two-day trial into whether the college was at fault for the student's severed fingertip.

(File photo)

A Portland Community College student who lost a fingertip while working on an airplane turbine engine during class was awarded nothing by a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury last week.

Shantia "Sean" Magui had asked for $31,453 in damages during a two-day trial, but a jury determined 11-1 that the college wasn't at fault for the incident on Jan. 9, 2013.

An attorney for the college, Brett Mersereau, said the jury specifically found that there wasn't any negligence on the part of the college. Mersereau also had argued that Magui was doing something with the turbine engine's blades that wasn't necessary for the class -- and that Magui was responsible for severing his own fingertip.

Magui's attorney, Eric Fjelstad, contended that someone else in Magui's aviation maintenance technology class had moved the turbine's blades while Magui was working on them.

"There should have been a block or guard to prevent it from moving," said Fjelstad, faulting the college for safety.

Magui sought $10,453 in medical expenses, and $21,000 for pain, suffering and inconvenience that includes numbness and a loss of feeling in his injured right index finger.

-- Aimee Green

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