"Dad's Lotto jackpot sought for boy's care"

Plain Dealer July 1993

Whether 13-year-old Johnny Lynch ever sits up by himself, reaches to touch someone or feeds himself might depend on the outcome of a trial that began yesterday in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court.

The boy was born with cerebral palsy. He weighs 25 pounds, is blind, has the mental capacity of a newborn infant and is totally dependent for care on his mother and grandmother, neither of whom have the means to fund a comprehensive care program.

His prospects for making even the slightest improvements had always been dim. Then good fortune smiled on Johnny Lynch. Last February, the boy's natural father, who never married Johnny's mother, won a $12 million Ohio Lotto Jackpot. After taxes, the instant payout amounted to about $4 million.

Suddenly Johnny's opportunities for quality care improved dramatically. The lucky Lotto winner, John Markuszka, 34, of Garfield Heights, who makes and plays guitars, already has paid $16,000 in past-due child support, and has offered to pay $25,000 a year for life.

But the boy's mother, Karen Paletta, 29, a waitress from Brook Park, wanted more for her son than support money. She sued Markuszka, seeking money to support the level of care that Johnny had lacked his entire life.

The cost of the treatment, and the amount Markuszka will be liable for, is a matter for economists to estimate and for Judge Robert A. Ferreri to decide at trial.

Dr. Max Wiznitzer, a pediatric neurologist, testified yesterday that he is more concerned about making Johnny's life better than how much it will cost. His most encouraging words were his prognosis for the boy. "I think we can do a lot for him," said Wiznetzer, an expert on cerebral palsy. "Let's be reality- based. He's not going to read or write. But let's let him maximize his ability and enjoy life as much as he can. We never give up."

The doctor prescribed a comprehensive program of physical therapy, nutritional improvements, mental and physical assessments, nursing care, a case manager and new medical equipment. Expensive? Yes. "But that's the beauty of this case." Ferreri told the doctor. "We can do a lot of things with enough money." Wiznitzer made no promises for Johnny's future. But he instilled hope, recalling how some of his best friends are recovered victims of cerebral palsy. One whose parents had abandoned hope of his ever improving is now a Ph.D., he said.

Paletta testified about what it was like to be unwed mother at age 15, responsible for raising a child with extraordinary needs. She recalled pleading in vain with Markuszka to provide $25 a week in court-ordered child support. Markuzka, who seldom earned more than $8,000 a year before winning the Lotto, didn't pay her anything until three years ago.

"He refuses to own up to his moral and legal responsibilities," the mother's lawyer, Lawrence Landskroner, said in his opening statement, as Markuszka shook his head in disagreement. "That is absolutely false." said his lawyer, Deborah J. Nicastro. "His joy will be to help his son. It's a matter of how much the mother wants him to pay, not how much he is willing to give." Markuszka hopes to create a trust account to pay for all of his son's future medical needs, Nicastro said. The issue at trial, she said, is how much Lotto money should be placed in the trust.