The widow of a man killed two years ago in a mid-day motor vehicle accident near Chaumont is suing a trio of Sackets Harbor restaurants for allegedly overserving an already intoxicated person. The family of victim Robert Burkard has been relentless in seeking punishment for his death at the hands of Leo Coleman Jr, the son of a prominent Watertown restaurant and bar owner.
Mr. Coleman has been sentenced, but the Burkard family thought the sentence too light. The suit against three restaurants alleges all three failed to train employees or exercise control over alleged service to Mr. Coleman.
Coleman was determined to have a .17 BAC at the time of the crash.
Its a nightmare scenario for the licensees as even with the most well trained staff, they now face time on the civil justice treadmill, hiring lawyers, answering complaints and wondering if they will go out of business trying to keep up with the expenses of a lawsuit brought by a plaintiff with the means and motivation to plow ahead.
Licensees are required by law and by common sense (a higher calling at times) to refuse service to clearly intoxicated persons and a tragedy can result in what's called a Dram Shop suit. It is a difficult case to make as timelines and precise descriptions of what happened are not clearly established. Even though, defense against a suit can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Often its a 'thereby for the grace of God' that happens, like the case last Friday of the man who left a concert in Watertown and stole a city pickup truck before Troopers nabbed him on Route 37 and he blew a .21 BAC.
No accident, no plaintiff, no foul.....Buts its a fear everyone who serves the devil's brew has.
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8 comments:
Sackets has finally finished its transformation from quaint tourist/bedroom community to BAR HARBOR. Nice job folks
At least they aren't stealing village trucks there
It could be simple.
Have Patty sponsor legislation to overrule Dram shop laws.
Wouldn't it be nice if we held people accountable for their actions instead of a business?
Or in the mean time...pay the relatively cheap insurance that will leave the insurance company paying for your legal defense and settlement.
I wonder why the county has not been named. If that intersection had reasonable lines of site then the collision would not have happened even with a drunker drunk.
The sentence was way to light for the "Jeep Murders" and good for her hope she gets a ton of $$$$$$$$$, but if they shut down the various alphabet agencies will just bail them out with more taxpayers$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, Thanks for naming the places I'll know where not to go.
Having never held an ABC license...I don't have all the facts at hand, but I never completly understood the "dram shop" laws. How can you hold a business accountable for the actions of the patrons of that business? If I sold widgets and someone ate one of them and choked to death...should I be responsible for his stupidity? I just don't get it. Two drinks affects one person completly different than two drinks affects another person. Mental attitude, food intake, being tired and several other things determine alcoholic effect...right? Oh well, I am too old to own a bar anyway...and I don't make widgets anymore.
Is this going to worth $100,000 or more? If so, we can call Joe Nose, and he will know the answer. Git some money. In this case, Coleman owes some money to the family. LOTS of money.
And it will go to the attorneys and never bring back the dead but all will end up happy. Would you believe two out of three?
There is no evidence that drinking caused this fatality. The convicted was only driving 81 mph and that is 3 mph slower than Owens was driving this winter.
The deceased did not yield the right of way and that is because the lines of site are inadequate at that intersection.
And also everyone knew the outcome, From the judge bowing out(because dinner is more important) to the DA's office claiming "It's not our fault" To the Good Luck Judge, Hope the women gets plenty of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
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