The Mis Tres Amigos restaurant is facing a wrongful death suit after the death of a 22-year-old man during a party on the premises.  The young man was attending an after-hours get-together at the restaurant that allegedly featured marijuana and alcohol. During the party, the victim somehow hit his head and was left in a booth, unconscious. The manager apparently left the victim in the booth and continued the party, failing to call for help. The next morning, the young man was found to be unresponsive and was transported to a local hospital, where he was declared brain dead.

Is The Restaurant Liable?

The young man’s father has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant, claiming that they should have called for help earlier and had they done so, the victim might still be alive.  Further, the father claims that the restaurant broke the law when it featured an after-hours party including alcohol and marijuana.

Premises liability law states that property owners are responsible for injuries that occur on their property when they fail to take reasonable care to prevent an accident. Under premises liability theories, the restaurant owners are indeed liable for providing a venue for the illegal party and for failing to treat the young man’s injuries when they occurred.

What About the Victim’s Culpability?

According to news sources, the victim had a previous conviction for drug possession in 2009.  However, he had been in a treatment program and was studying to be a personal trainer at the time of the accident.

This young man may or may not have participated in the consumption of alcohol and drugs at the party.  If he did, this could somewhat mitigate the liability of the property owner. However, even if a jury decided that the young man had contributed to his own accident, they could still find the property owner liable.

In California, the theory of comparative liability applies to situations in which the victim may have contributed to his or her own injuries. Comparative liability means that the victim shares some of the responsibility for the accident and the total amount of damages collected may be reduced by a certain percentage. For example, a jury could find that the young man was responsible for 30 percent of the liability for the accident. In that case, a $50,000 award would be reduced by $15,000. The restaurant owner would then be liable for the remaining $35,000.

However, if a jury decided that the young man’s actions directly led to the injury, the restaurant owner could be found to have no liability. This is not usual in premises liability cases such as this, although it remains a possibility.

Since the outcome of a jury trial is so uncertain, both parties generally settle the case outside of court. A personal injury lawyer will advise the victim’s family on the wisdom of making a settlement agreement prior to trial in such a case.

A single juror was the deciding factor in the mistrial of a woman accused of vehicular manslaughter in an accident that took the life of a college student in 2011, according to the Orange County Register.

The jury was deadlocked 11 to 1 when the judge declared a mistrial in the case against Ashley Selina Bryan, 26, from Highland, California. Bryan was accused of vehicular manslaughter in the death of Cameron Cook, 18, a college student who was riding with another driver to Claremont McKenna College. The driver, Logan Vescio, was stranded on the side of the road after a previous accident. Cook was standing outside the car when Bryan, who was driving with a blood alcohol level of .17, crashed into Vescio’s car, pushing Cook over the guardrail to drop 50 to 60 feet to the rocks below. Cook died some time later after being transported to a local hospital.

The jury did vote to convict Bryan of two other counts: driving under the influence and causing bodily injury. However, the single juror could not vote to convict on the manslaughter count given the evidence.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim in this tragic accident.

Driving Under the Influence A Factor In Many Accidents

According to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, drunk drivers account for at least one-third of all fatal accidents. These numbers change with the time of day, with up to 75 percent of all fatal accidents after 12 midnight involving alcohol. Alcohol-related crashes remain one of the highest causes of death of youths under the age of 30.

Why Not Manslaughter?

When a person is involved in a deadly accident due to the use of alcohol, prosecutors must decide how to charge the suspect. In California, prosecutors have several choices in deciding on charges. The suspect can be charged with homicide if there is evidence that he or she deliberately hit another person. The suspect can also be charged with manslaughter if there is no evidence of intent, but the suspect engaged in behavior that was so dangerous that it was obvious that the behavior could result in deadly harm to another person, such as drinking and driving. Finally, prosecutors can charge the suspect with felony DUI.

In this case, one juror felt that the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof that the driver’s behavior was the cause of the man’s death. In that case, the juror voted to acquit the driver of that charge. The prosecution has vowed to retry the case with another jury, hoping for a conviction in the second trial.
Liability Issues

While there is much controversy over the acquittal, the liability issues in this case have not changed. A person can be acquitted of criminal behavior and still be held accountable civilly for the damages he or she has caused. An Orange County personal injury attorney can help this family file a wrongful death suit against the defendant and possibly recover damages for the loss of their loved one, regardless of whether she is retried or convicted on the manslaughter charge.

November 26, 2012—San Jacinto, California–The Press-Enterprise reports that the family of a man killed in an October 20 hit-and-run crash is asking the public to help identify the driver who hit the 23-year-old young man and then fled the scene.

Paul Vavao, 23, of San Jacinto, was driving on Domenigoni Parkway in Hemet, near Searle Parkway, on October 20 around 9:00 p.m.  Mr. Vavao lost control of his car and it rolled over in the roadway, ejecting him.  A passing SUV ran over Mr. Vavao’s body as it lay in the road, then sped away from the scene.  Mr. Vavao died at the hospital a few hours later.  Police have speculated that he might have lived through the crash had he not been run over.

There were witnesses to the crash, but no one has been able to give a detailed description of the vehicle beyond saying it was an SUV.  Police have determined it was a GMC model.

Crime Stoppers has an anonymous tip line at 1-866-640-8477 where witnesses can call in and give information on the case for a reward of up to $500.  Witnesses can also contact the Hit-and-Run Hotline for a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest by calling 1-800-644-8678 or visiting www.bestattorney.com/hitnrunreward.

Hit-and-Run Statistics Frightening

The numbers of hit-and-run accidents in California are epidemic.  According to the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System maintained by the California Highway Patrol, there were a total of 147 deaths and 19,009 injuries due to hit-and-run accidents in California in 2010.  This represents five percent of all vehicular deaths and eight percent of all injuries in the state for that year.  However, the number of hit-and-run accidents is much higher than these figures would suggest.  In Los Angeles, the California Highway Patrol estimates that almost half of all collisions are hit-and-run accidents, according to a study by AAA.  Fortunately, most of these accidents are not fatal, but they still represents a mindset that is frightening:  that the best thing to do in an accident is keep driving.

Would This Driver Have Been Charged?

Depending on the circumstances of the accident, the driver who hit this man might not have had a criminal charge.  If it could be shown that the young man flipped his car and his body flew in front of an oncoming car, it is unlikely the police would have charged the driver.  However, given the fact that the driver left the scene, there will now be felony charges when the driver is caught.

Would This Driver Have Been Liable?

It is difficult to know if the driver’s actions hastened the young man’s death or if he might have died of injuries sustained in the original crash.  A California hit-and-run accident attorney would have to examine the case to make that determination.

November 18, 2012—South Los Angeles, California—An 18-year-old special needs man was killed by a hit-and-run driver over the weekend, according to ABC News.  The accident occurred around 7:00 p.m. near the intersection of Broadway and Century Boulevard when the victim was hit by a minivan.  The van was caught on surveillance camera driving at a high rate of speed without lights just before the accident.  The victim, Miguel Mendez, was not in a crosswalk at the time of the crash.

Mendez was a student at the Banneker Special Education Center.  Family and friends have marked the spot with flowers and candles and hope for someone to come forward with information on the driver.  The vehicle is described as a green late-model Chrysler Town and Country minivan.

Anyone with information about this accident can contact the Los Angeles Police Department or the Hit-and-Run Reward program at 800-6-Hit-N-Run or visit the website.  There may be a cash award of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the driver.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Mendez’s family and friends during this difficult time.

Hit-and-Run Hurts More Than Victim

Hit-and-run has risen to 44 percent of all vehicle accidents with pedestrians and cyclists in Los Angeles according to a recent study reported by City Watch.  What is sad about these figures is not just the number of victims that will suffer from hit-and-run drivers.  It is also the fact that many families such as the one in this story will forever be left with questions about the death of a beloved family member.

Pedestrian Law in California

Essentially, California law provides two ways for police to determine fault in a pedestrian accident.  If a pedestrian is in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, he or she has the right-of-way over vehicular traffic.  If a pedestrian is outside the crosswalk, the pedestrian must yield to vehicles.

However, this is not a license for either pedestrians or drivers to endanger others.  It simply means that a driver may not be charged with a pedestrian accident by police under certain circumstances.

Liability Issues in Pedestrian Accidents

The lack of a traffic charge does not change the liability of the driver, however.  Drivers are often liable for damages when they hit pedestrians no matter what the circumstances of the accident.  A Los Angeles pedestrian hit and run attorney can help you with your pedestrian accident and determine if you are eligible to recover damages.

October 28, 2012—Santa Cruz, California—The parents of a cyclist killed by a hit-and-run driver last year have filed suit against the driver, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
April and Richard Parke, the parents of Zachary Parke, filed a wrongful death suit against Elliott Sterling Dess, the man convicted of hitting and killing their son on June 8, 2011.
Parke, 25, was hit at the West Entrance to UC Santa Cruz as he was riding his bicycle, but his body was not discovered until nearly eight hours had passed. The driver fled the scene and did not render aid.

After the California Highway Patrol tracked crash debris to a car owned by Dess he turned himself in on June 17. He pleaded no contest to felony hit-and-run in February and was sentenced to two years in jail. However, he is expected to be released in March.

The parents filed a wrongful death suit against Dess for wilfull and wanton destruction. His attorneys have denied the claim.

My heart goes out to the parents of this young man, and I hope that they will be able to find peace over this situation in the future.

Hit-and-Run a Tragic Reality

Hit-and-run accidents are more common in California than in any other state in the United States. In Los Angeles, hit-and-run accidents are four times more common than in other cities, according to a recent study by the Auto Association of America or AAA. In the white paper on the subject, the author shows that while the national average of hit-and-run accidents in 11 percent, in Los Angeles that number leaps to 44 percent.

Hit-and-run drivers not only leave behind death and destruction, but in many cases the families of the victims are denied closure because they never have the answers to so many questions that occur. In this case, the parents were left to wonder if their child suffered, if he was aware of the circumstances, and most of all if he might have survived had the driver stopped and called for help.

Will The Parents Win the Wrongful Death Suit?

It is impossible to predict the outcome of any lawsuit, but the parents in this case have strong grounds for a wrongful death suit. The fact that the driver pled no contest to the charges has little to no impact on the outcome of a civil suit. A Santa Cruz wrongful death attorney will assess this case’s merits and help the parents recover damages.

October 28, 2012—South Bay, California—Two families who lost loved ones in a tragic accident at the San Diego yacht race may be gearing up for a legal battle between themselves, according to the Contra Costa Times.

The accident occurred around April 28 when the yacht captained by Theofanis Mavromatis, 49, and crewed by Kevin Rudolph, 53, William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, and Joseph Stewart, 64, was found floating in pieces off the Coronado Islands.  Debris from the boat was found scattered over an eight-mile stretch.  The Coast Guard determined that the boat had gone aground on North Coronado Island.  The Mavromatis family disputes the findings.

Hostilities erupted when the Mavromatis family was served with paperwork petitioning the court to handle the administration of the captain’s estate.  Facebook and internet exchanges soon became heated between the survivors.  Legal experts weighing in have stated that the petition could be the first step in a wrongful death suit that will attempt to recover from insurance and other payments received by the captain’s widow.

Do The Families Have a Right To Sue?

The Facebook postings have made the personal conflict public, but the legal questions surrounding the accident have never been secret.  A person who owns a boat in which several people are traveling may well be liable if the boat is mishandled and an accident results.  In this case, the underlying assumption is that the captain made an error that caused the ship to run aground, killing the three crewmen and himself in the process.

If this is the case, as the Coast Guard report seems to suggest, then the estate of the captain could be responsible for paying damages to the survivors of the crew.  However, if, as the family contends, the report is premature, new evidence may be brought to light that shows that the captain was not responsible for the accident.  If the shipwreck was deemed an “act of God” such as those caused by sudden bad weather, the captain’s survivors might be able to make a case against a plea for damages by surviving family members.

A personal injury attorney should examine the case and determine if there is actually any grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit.  If so, it is possible that the personal injury lawyer could help the families of the victims recover damages from the captain’s estate.

The most common instances of wrongful death cases are automobile accidents or instances of medical malpractice, but a wrongful death is actually any death that results from the negligence of another party. The nature of some deaths can make it difficult to determine if negligence has occurred. Although every case is different, there are a few areas that are not generally considered wrongful deaths:

• Suicide;
• As a result of illegal drugs;
• War in which the deceased was involved in combat
• Physical or mental illness

If tragedy has struck your family, we offer our deepest sympathies. We know that nothing can bring back a deceased loved-one, but a wrongful death attorney can alleviate at least the financial burden by achieving compensation to pay for extensive hospital bills, and funeral and other related costs. At Christensen & Hymas we offer service with integrity and compassion. Please call us at (801) 506-0800 for a free consultation.

Seattle wrongful death attorney Chris Davis explains why the DOC settlement is a victory for more than just the families represented in the wrongful death lawsuit.

The Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) announced Friday that it has finally reached a financial settlement with the families of three Lakewood police officers who were slain by a fugitive in 2009. Attorneys representing the DOC have said that the settlements, which will provide $12.5 million dollars to each of the officers’ families, were finalized before a Pierce County Superior Court Judge Friday morning.

Seattle wrongful death attorney Christopher Davis, a self-proclaimed victims’ rights advocate, counts this settlement as a victory not only for the victims’ families, but also for proponents of victims’ rights nationwide.

“Individuals, corporations, and governmental entities must be held accountable and take responsibility for harm to or the death of a person that is due to the negligent actions, inaction or failure to follow rules, regulations or laws that exist to protect the safety of our citizens,” says Davis, who has experienced firsthand the devastation that follows a wrongful death incident.

The settlement stems from an October 2009 shooting at a coffee shop in the Lakewood area that left four of the city’s police officers dead. Maurice Clemmons, who was found to be the man responsible for the shooting, was killed two days later by a Seattle police officer in a separate incident.

The original wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the DOC failed to act on warrants for Clemmons issued by the state of Arkansas just weeks before the shooting occurred. Authorities in Arkansas requested that the fugitive be held in jail pending trial, and while the community corrections officer in charge of Clemmons’ case properly noted the warrant in the computer system, he reportedly did not alert the Pierce County Jail or prosecutors following Clemmons’ arrest in Arkansas.

“Unfortunately this is not the only case in which the DOC’s failure to adequately supervise has resulted in harm or death,” Davis added.

Davis, who has represented numerous wrongful death victims throughout Washington State during his career, has also penned the Washington Accident Books, a series of legal guides regarding personal injury law and wrongful death.

The Washington Accident Books has provided free legal information to thousands of Washington State accident victims since their inception in 2006. As a public service to all victims who have suffered an insurmountable loss of a loved one, such as the families involved in this particular wrongful death lawsuit, Davis is providing his book, “Wrongful Death in Washington State,” for free for a limited time. Anyone interested in ordering their complimentary copy should visit http://www.WashingtonAccidentBooks.com for more information.

About Chris Davis

Christopher M. Davis, founder of the Davis Law Group, has been a licensed attorney in the state of Washington since 1993. He has tried dozens of personal injury cases to verdict and has successfully handled and resolved hundreds of accident claims. He has been a Washington Super Lawyer’ for seven years in a row for his expertise and success in litigating personal injury claims. You can learn more about the firm by visiting: http://www.DavisLawGroupSeattle.com.

There is very little that any of us can imagine that is worse than the loss of a child.  Somehow, a child’s death violates our sensibilities about the order of nature and the universe.  In a “normal” world, death is inevitable, but we like to think that elderly parents will precede their grown children in death rather than having to bury their own offspring.  When this does happen, it is a devastating and heartbreaking reality and many parents simply cannot deal with the repercussions.  Wrongful death attorneys try to mitigate the emotional and mental trauma somewhat not only by collecting damages for the child’s death but by supporting the family in every way possible, through mental, moral, and psychological support.

This is a very difficult job because these attorneys must consider many legal questions when dealing with a child’s death.  The statute of limitations, for example, may be different for a wrongful death case brought by the parents of a child victim than for an adult victim.  It is also possible that the settlement negotiations or trial will be run along very different lines when the victim is a child due to economic differences between a child and an adult, as well as non-economic differences.

Children do not earn income, so their economic reality is different from that of an adult.  However, the loss of a child may be more devastating than the loss of an aged parent, so the non-economic compensation may be figured differently as well.  Attorneys for wrongful death must understand these differences to successfully navigate the obstacles inherent in these cases.

There are many obstacles that may arise in the course of a wrongful death claim.  For example, unborn children are not considered people under California and therefore a pregnant woman cannot claim wrongful death if her fetus is killed in an accident.  She can, however, claim other types of damages.

Another problem that arises when a child is the victim in a wrongful death claim is the lack of economic damages.  When an adult is killed, the court can review the victim’s wages and earnings to determine how much he or she contributed to the family income.  In most cases, children do not earn money, so this avenue of calculating the value of a claim is closed.  However, most courts consider the loss of a child as the worst type of grief and will judge accordingly when figuring non-economic damages.

Losing a child is terribly difficult, and parents often need psychological as well as physical support.  When a Sacramento wrongful death attorney assesses a case, he or she will review the need for mental and emotional support as part of the damages inherent in the lawsuit.  Often, attorneys are able to help clients receive the grief counseling and other forms of psychological support they need by helping them collect the full amount of damages to which they are entitled.  Whenever a child is killed, it is very important for the family to engage a professional attorney who understands these types of cases in order to protect the family’s rights and ensure they have the help they need to recover.

When someone has been killed by the negligence or wrongdoing of another, the victim’s family can file a wrongful death claim against the at-fault party to receive compensation for their losses. Under California law, the victim’s family members have two years to file a wrongful death claim. That is the statute of limitations for fatal accidents in California. However, these rules do not always apply when an incident results in the tragic death of a child.

It is important that families act quickly to secure quality legal representation following a fatal accident because the two-year statute of limitations does apply to most fatal accidents. According to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1: “Within two years: An action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.”

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