In 2017, a 17-year-old boy was killed in a car accident when he was driving and hit a concrete post. According to officials, the boy in question was on his way home from a party and was under the influence of alcohol. The parents of the boy have filed a wrongful death case against a person they believe is responsible for the death of their son.
They believe that the man they’re suing provided alcohol to their son, who was underage. They also believe that the man didn’t do anything to prevent the teen from driving away. According to the lawsuit, they believe that the man was negligent and that his negligence directly led to their son’s death. Read on to learn more about this case. If you’ve been involved in a car accident or have lost a loved one, please contact Law Offices of Michael A. Kahn at (310) 209-1600 today to learn more about your options.
Understanding a wrongful death case in California
In order to determine if this case has merit, we must first look at what exactly a wrongful death case is in the state of California. It refers to a person being killed in an accident that was the result of another person acting negligently or recklessly.
The surviving family (and a few other people) can file a lawsuit to recover financial compensation. In order to win the case, they must prove several factors, including that the defendant had an obligation to act with caution, that they didn’t meet this obligation, and that the deceased’s death was a direct result of them not meeting this obligation.
This case is different than most
The entirety of this case rests on the idea that the man is responsible for the death of their son because he gave their son alcohol. In most cases, California law doesn’t allow for holding a person accountable for someone else’s actions just because they provided that person with alcohol. Other states have what are known as “dram shop liability” that allow victims to hold a third party responsible for accidents.
California’s liability laws involving alcohol are very strict. They state that a person providing alcohol to someone else doesn’t legally make them negligent for anything that happens as a result of that person’s intoxication. For example, if a bartender overserves a person and that person gets into an accident, the bartender is not held responsible. That said, there are exceptions.
What we expect the attorneys to do
The main exception to California’s dram shop liability laws is what many refer to as the “a person is responsible for their own actions” rule. This means that if a person is hosting a private party and gives alcohol to people who aren’t of legal age to drink, then they can be held accountable for injuries that occur at their home. We assume that the attorneys in this case will be following this line of the law since the individual was served alcohol at a private party.
