Jury Serves Bar $4 Million Tab in Drunken Driving Case
It seems the Plainville bar is only responsible for $250K
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009 | Updated 10:31 AM EST
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A jury awarded the estate of a man killed in a drunken driving crash eight times the allowable amount.
A jury has decided a $4 million verdict against a former bar in Plainville that served alcohol to a Bristol man who killed his friend in a violent car crash in 2006. That's eight times the max they are supposed to reward under the Dram Shop Act, but the jury did not know that at the time, the Hartford Courant reports.
Patrick O’Dell, a 37-year-old Bristol man and father of three, and Joel Prachar had spent the September 2006 night drinking at Déjà Vu, the Bristol Press reports. After leaving the bar, Prachar hit a parked moving van, killing O’Dell.
An hour after the crash, Prachar’s blood alcohol level was .187 — more than twice the legal limit for driving, the Press reports, pointing to toxicology reports.
O’Dell's estate sued. They claimed that the bar owners were responsible for serving patrons who are intoxicated and wind up injuring or killing someone,the Press reports.
“Maybe someday, sometime in the future, they’ll think twice about serving someone even though they don’t appear to be drunk,” O’Dell’s father Jack told the Press. “You don’t have to be dead drunk to kill someone.”
The Dram Shop Act includes a $250,000 compensation cap for each accident or person injured, but the jury wasn't aware of it when they awarded the $4 million, attorney Ron Murphy, who represented O'Dell's estate, told the Hartford Courant. So, the bar will be responsible for the amount allowed by law, the Courant reports.
Pracher was sentenced to 32 months in prison for manslaughter with a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
Posted Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009 - 9:26 AM EST
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