Jacksonville Personal Injury Blog

A St. Johns Circuit Judge has refused to dismiss manslaughter charges against a 51-year-old woman accused of letting teens drink in her house and doing nothing to stop it.

The Judge said that the woman’s actions “set in motion a chain of events” that ended with the January 11 deaths of an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old.

The two St. Johns County teens were leaving a party at the woman’s home. Friends say they were too drunk to get behind the wheel of a 1991 Ford Thunderbird. The car veered off State Road 13 near Orangedale and hit some trees, bursting into flames. Both teens died. The driver’s blood alcohol level was 0.18, more than twice the legal limit.

The woman’s attorney says that allowing someone to leave your home intoxicated does not merit a manslaughter charge and her defense will be that the kids arrived at her house already intoxicated.

But prosecutors say the woman allowed, provided, or encouraged minors to drink alcohol at the house party and smoke marijuana. And they say this was not the first party hosted by this particular woman, according to prosecutors. She is alleged to have hosted parties in September, two in December 2008, as well as the one in January.

Continue reading "Party-House Mom Facing Manslaughter Charges" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , DRAM Shop Law , Drunk Driving Accident , Personal Injury

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A 51-year old Florida woman has been charged with two counts of manslaughter in connection with a single-car wreck that killed two Jacksonville area teens last January. According to an article, a St. Johns County grand jury looked at the evidence in the case before deciding on the charges against the female driver. She is charged with allowing alcohol and drugs to be served at several parties she hosted at her house between September 26 and January 12. Minors consumed not only alcohol but marijuana and nitrous oxide and police say the 51 year old woman sometimes participated.

It’s believed that alcohol contributed to the car crash in Florida that took the lives of 18-year-old and 17-year-old. Early in the morning of January 12, the Thunderbird they were in was traveling along State Road 13 when it hit a guardrail and drove into a stand of trees where the car caught fire. The victims had to be identified by dental records. One of the victims’ blood alcohol measured at .18, twice the legal limit and the other teen’s BAC was .097, above the legal limit for intoxication.

The charged woman’s action led directly to the deaths, says the charging affidavit, as the teens were leaving her residence.

Continue reading "Florida Car Wreck Kills Two Teens Who Were Served Alcohol Illegally" »

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Posted In: Auto Accidents , DRAM Shop Law , Personal Injury , Wrongful Death

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There are more than 7,000 businesses licensed to sell alcohol in Jacksonville’s Duval County. Florida wants to make sure that underage drinkers are not getting their hands on alcohol.

Friday night police did a random check of more than dozen establishments in the Jacksonville area.

Girls go in, dressed appropriately for their age, and then go into an establishment and try and buy alcohol. If the clerk doesn’t ask for an ID and sells them the alcohol, they are arrested by agents waiting in the wings.

On this Friday night, there were two arrests made. In most cases, the arrested clerks are not taken to jail, but are instead issued a 'Notice To Appear' before a judge at a later date, according to First Coast News.

Liquor stores generally do not face the same kind of liability for injury, property damage or death related to a teenage drunk driver as a bar.

Florida’s Dram Shop Law does allow the victims of drink driving accidents to sue bars, hotels or restaurants that sell alcohol to underage teens who are injured or injure others as a result.

If the bar either didn’t ask for an ID or ignored an obviously fake ID, they may share the liability if that teen gets into an accident and causes injury and death.

Continue reading "Alcohol Sales To Minors Busted In Florida" »

Posted by Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: DRAM Shop Law

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