Texas jury awards $301B settlement in suit against bar

[TexasTowelie]

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury has awarded a largely symbolic settlement of more than $301 billion in a lawsuit against a Corpus Christi bar brought by the family of a woman and her 16-year-old granddaughter who were killed in a car crash with a drunken driver.

The suit against Beer Belly’s Sports Bar stems from a 2017 crash that killed 59-year-old Tamra Kindred, Aujuni Anderson, and the other driver, Joshua Delbosque. Kindred's daughters alleged in their suit that the bar served Delbosque a “dangerous amount of alcohol” and that the 29-year-old Delbosque later ran a red light at 91 mph, causing the crash.

A Nueces County jury awarded the eye-popping figure to Jennifer Kindred and Elizabeth Anderson on Tuesday, but their lawyer said the women don't expert to receive payment from the now-closed bar. Beer Belly’s and its owner were ordered to pay them $1.04 billion in “actual damages” and another $300 billion in “exemplary damages," court records show

Attorney John Flood said “the jury sent a very loud message that if alcohol providers trade money for the safety of their patrons and the public, there must be accountability.”

Read more: https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Texas-jury-awards-301B-settlement-Corpus-Christi-16688842.php
(Laredo Morning Times)

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Good luck with that. nt

Fair compensation, I understand and support. 300BB? Ridiculous.

[TexasTowelie]

4. That huge of an award, particularly the $300B for exemplary damages

makes the jury appear ridiculous and gives grounds for an appeal. The absurd verdicts also justify insurance companies in rate hearings when they request higher premiums. These windfall verdicts are not in the public interest.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. "These windfall verdicts are not in the public interest."

Agree totally. No better than a jury that lets a perp walk. It might feel good, but no real justice served.

[brer cat]

7. I was on a jury once for a lawsuit against a taxi driver who ran a red light

and hit a woman in the cross walk. First thing the foreman said when we hit the jury room was "Can we agree that we won't give an outrageous amount in damages?" We all agreed. You are a statistician so you can understand that it's actually very hard not to find a large amount when you are looking at a lifetime of pain and suffering plus loss of income for decades.

[TexasTowelie]

8. Not only am I a statistician, but I was the statistician on the tort claims project prior to 2000.

The largest claim settlement that I saw was for $28 million. I guess that inflation must be playing a role?

I firmly believe in the rights of an injured party to be compensated for a tort, but I feel much differently when an injury results in winning the lottery instead. That isn't what the civil justice system is supposed to be about.

[brer cat]

9. I agree.

[Hoyt]

3. Bar is closed, they'll never collect a penny. But, sometimes bars are responsible

to some extent.

[bottrott]

6. And just for perspective

BP was ordered to cough up 29B for the Horizon disaster that resulted in the direct deaths of 11, not to mention the resultant suicide(s) and economic hardship for shrimpers and fishermen which also caused massive environmental damage to the entire region which will result in higher cancer rates throughout the Gulf.

How the hell is anyone supposed to take Justice in this country seriously with such absurd disparity between criminal and civil penalties? A "symbolic penalty" is not a freakn deterrent, it's a damned joke and unenforceable. This was tragic, to be sure, but FFS can't we deal in reality here?