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Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:29 pm
by FlynJay
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6170554.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Judge's daughter sues driver she ran into while intoxicated
Convicted last year of intoxication manslaughter for the death of her boyfriend, the 21-year-old daughter of a state district judge is suing the truck driver she ran into during a drunken driving crash.
Elizabeth Shelton, the daughter of juvenile judge Pat Shelton, is accusing truck driver Lance Bennett of negligence in the Oct. 23, 2007, wreck that killed her boyfriend Matthew McNiece.
Shelton had a blood alcohol concentration more than three times the legal limit, two tests showed. She was sentenced to eight years' probation and had to serve four months in jail.
Shelton, her family and the family of the boyfriend who was killed are suing for $20,000 for the destruction of the Lexus SUV she was driving and an undetermined amount for mental anguish, pain and suffering.
Bennett was driving the box truck that Shelton rear-ended on the Southwest Freeway near Kirby around 2 a.m.
Bennett's attorney, John Havins, said the lawsuit, filed in October, was the last chance to make a claim before the statute of limitations ran out.
He noted that Shelton named 16 defendants, including insurance companies and banks. "They're just throwing everything against the wall to see if anything sticks," Havins said.
During Shelton's trial, an expert for the defense testified there was evidence that Bennett swerved into Shelton's lane. An expert for the prosecution, however, said there wasn't evidence that Bennett got in her way.
Testimony also showed that the company Bennett was working for let the insurance on the truck lapse.
"The injuries and property damage sustained by (Shelton and her family) were not the result of intentional acts, but were accidental and caused by the negligence of the uninsured/underinsured driver," Shelton's attorney Mark Sandoval wrote in the lawsuit.
brian.rogers@chron.com
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:11 pm
by GrillKing
My Opinion: Drunk Driver. Intoxicated 3X the limit, Rear ended the truck, Fault = Intoxicated Driver.
Truck Driver, expired insurance = ticket for failure to maintain financial liability (or whatever it is called), his company pays the fine, probably a few hundred bucks. No relevance to the accident.
Toss the suit. Case closed. She got off light in terms of sentance, leave it alone. She is at fault in the death of her friend and will have to live with that for the rest of her life. The Lexus would be the least of my concerns.
This is my opinion only based only on the information given.
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:33 pm
by flb_78
Any lawyer willing to take this case should be disbarred.
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:06 pm
by anygunanywhere
I'll bet Daddy had a hand in the lawsuit.
Anygunanywhere
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 8:29 pm
by boomerang
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:01 pm
by stroo
When I started practicing law over 25 years ago, I knew what a frivolous lawsuit was. Now I don't because judges and juries do all sorts of crazy things. That said, this looks pretty frivolous on its face.
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:04 pm
by lunchbox
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:30 am
by KD5NRH
Interesting.
If anyone actually wants to follow the developments in this riveting little farce, the sundry details should show up shortly after they happen at
http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/eDocs/Pu ... 2314&CDI=7#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; You can preview all the relevant documents in the e-Docs tab.
It's probably a good thing I'm not a judge; I'd find the plaintiffs and their attorney in contempt for claiming that such a travesty was "respectfully submitted."
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:19 am
by M9FAN
GrillKing wrote:My Opinion: Drunk Driver. Intoxicated 3X the limit, Rear ended the truck, Fault = Intoxicated Driver.
Truck Driver, expired insurance = ticket for failure to maintain financial liability (or whatever it is called), his company pays the fine, probably a few hundred bucks. No relevance to the accident.
Toss the suit. Case closed. She got off light in terms of sentance, leave it alone. She is at fault in the death of her friend and will have to live with that for the rest of her life. The Lexus would be the least of my concerns.
This is my opinion only based only on the information given.
Re: Proof that you can be sued for anything
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:26 pm
by DoubleJ
Unfortunately, I have seen travesties of justice such as this actually prevail.
I have a buddy (yes believe it or not, I have friends...) that's a Truck Driver. He told me quite a few stories, one of relevance being that his good friend Jeff was driving one night, a guy fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the median and slammed into Jeff's truck.
Jeff was found liable because his time book indicated he had not rested enough between that shift and his last, and he should not have been on the road, and thusly if he hadn't been on the road, the nimrod couldn't have slammed into Jeff's truck.
retarded? yes.
did it happen? yup.
did I just a bunch of money by switching my car insurance? mebbee....
