Jury Compensates Drunk Driving Victim's Family $89M

Kalfus and Nachman, PC, takes the rights of victims of drunk driving very seriously. We were pleased to see the following results reported for a case in Missouri.

In one of the largest DUI damages verdicts in history, a jury of people just like you and me, compensated the family of a man killed by a drunk driver after carefully considering all the evidence at trial and through deliberation.

The victim, a 28-year-old male, was driving down Missouri Highway 100 with his fiance. The couple were coming back from picking out gifts for their wedding registry at an area mall.

While driving westbound on HWY 100, they were struck head-on by the drunk driver. The decedent was killed instantly. The fiance was knocked unconscious in the collision. When she woke, almost every bone in her face was broken. She was 13 weeks pregnant, so doctors could not administer pain medication until they ran tests to ensure the medication would not harm the fetus. The fiance said at trial that the only thing she remembered after waking up from the crash was hearing one EMT say to the another, "Code him," meaning the decedent was dead on the scene.

The drunk driver's deposition testimony, taken from jail, was introduced at trial. Before the crash, he had been involved in an argument with his girlfriend and drove over to his friend's house, where he stole a bottle of his father's whiskey. He was driving on a suspended license, and his Blood Alcohol level at the time of the accident was .20, more than twice the legal limit.

The money they determined to be fair for the loss of a human being's life was $89,000,000. Clearly, the jury wanted to send a message that drunk driving is not to be tolerated. Also, they appear to have found the drunk driver's apology to be insincere, given what his carelessness and colossal selfishness did to the victims and their families.

Kalfus and Nachman, PC, wants to help you if you have been injured by another's negligence. Give us a call; the call is free; and let's see if we can help.