An Anaheim family is dealing with the death of their patriarch after he was killed in his own driveway at 3 in the morning. Tarke Hamed was turning into his driveway and coming home when Esteban Lunas Martinez lost control of his car and collided with him. Martinez was speeding and was above the legal blood alcohol limit at the time of the accident.
Martinez will face criminal charges but will that be the end of his legal troubles?
Martinez has been arrested for driving without a license, felony DUI, and gross vehicular manslaughter. As those charges are being brought against him, the family of the deceased has the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit against him. Whether or not he’s convicted of the crimes against him should have no influence on the lawsuit against him.
It appears there’s a strong case for the Hamed family
While of course Law Offices of Michael A. Kahn can’t give a complete legal analysis without knowing all the facts, what we do know is that from everything that’s been released, it appears that the Hamed family has a very strong case against the driver in the automobile accident. If what’s been released is true – if he was speeding and was under the influence – then it should be relatively easy to prove that he was negligent per se.
What does negligent per se mean? It means that a person violated either a law or a regulation which resulted in an injury that the law they broke was created to prevent. For example, speed limits are there to keep drivers at a safe speed. DUI laws are there to prevent people from driving dangerously when drunk. If Martinez was guilty of either of those things, then it should be a slam dunk case.
What type of damages will they be eligible to seek?
After they’ve shown that the driver was negligent per se, they will then need to explain the damages they’re seeking and how much they are. In California, there are two categories of damages in a wrongful death case:
- Economic damages. These are designed to help family members with financial expenses and losses. It’s generally fairly easy to calculate and put a dollar amount on these damages. Some examples may include all funeral costs, medial costs before the victim died, and the loss of the deceased’s expected future income.
- Non-economic damages. These are to compensate the family for any harm that is much harder to define than with a specific dollar value. These injures are personal and subjective. For example, you know what pain and suffering is, but you may not have the same idea as someone else about how much that pain and suffering is worth.
No matter what the Hamed family decides to do moving forward, there is one thing that’s not in question: This is a terrible tragedy. At Law Offices of Michael A. Kahn, we hope that they will get the legal help they need. If you’ve suffered the wrongful death of a loved one you can reach us at (310) 209-1600 for a free legal consultation.
