Drunk Driver and County to Pay Combined $8.5 Million to Family of Girl Who was Killed While Crossing Street

Amy Rothschild

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A jury in Arizona issued a verdict on Friday, October 19, 2007, which will require Pima County and a drunken driver to pay a combined total of $8.5 million to the family of a girl who was killed in August 2004, while crossing the street. Of this amount, the County will have to be $520,000. The balance of the verdict must be paid by the drunk driver who is serving almost 11 years in jail for manslaughter.

The Pima County Superior Court jury deliberated for three hours before awarding the family $5 million in punitive damages and $4 million in compensatory damages. The County and Moody were each found to be 13 percent responsible for the accident, making them liable for that percentage of the compensatory damages only, or $520,000 each. The drunk driver, who is responsible for the payment of the balance of the jury's $8.5 million dollar award, had a blood-alcohol content between 0.18 and 0.24 when the crash occurred.

The drunken driver was driving down a street and the car in which he was riding had inadequate brakes and broken speedometer when he hit the 14 year old girl who was crossing the street with a friend. The family's argument against the County was that the roadway conditions and visibility made it a dangerous roadway. The family's attorney argued that there should have been additional lighting and signage for drivers, who could easily be confused by poor visibility because of a hill, a jog in the roadway and a lack of signage at the nearby park.

The county argued the roadway didn't cause the crash, but rather the drunk driver and the girl who the county said did not look before crossing the street. Apparently, the jury disagreed.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.