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Drunken driving trial could set precedent
August 8, 2002 Posted: 12:23 PM EDT (1623 GMT)
By Kevin Drew
CNN.com Law Editor
SALEM, New Jersey (CNN) -- Jurors in a New Jersey trial are
wrestling with the fate of a man in a drunken driving fatality case that could
have nationwide implications on third-party liabilities.
Jurors resumed on Thursday morning deliberations in the trial of Kenneth
Powell, who faces charges of manslaughter, vehicular homicide and aggravated
assault in connection with a crash that left his friend and another man dead.
The case is unusual because Powell, 40, was not present at the crash site,
and it is a criminal trial rather than a civil trial. If convicted, Powell could
face up to 15 years in prison.
The case stems from July 2000, when Powell picked up his friend Michael
Pangle, 37 -- both of New Jersey -- from jail after Pangle's drunken driving
arrest.
Police had released Pangle to Powell, who took Pangle back to his car. Powell
went home and prosecutors say Pangle drank some more before driving again.
Three hours after he had been dropped off at his car, Pangle was involved in
a head-on collision that killed him and U.S. Navy Ensign John Elliott, also of
New Jersey.
New Jersey prosecutors contend that because Powell did not take Pangle home,
he served as an accomplice and is liable for the deadly crash.
Legal analysts say it would be unprecedented if Powell were convicted for
drunken driving deaths if he was neither in the car, present at the accident or
provided any alcohol.
Many states carry "dram shop" liability laws, which hold alcohol servers
responsible for harm that intoxicated or underage patrons cause to other people,
or in some cases, to themselves. These laws are established at the state level
through common law, legislation, or both.
Suppliers of alcohol, such as bars and clubs, are usually the target of
third-party liability civil suits, said Atlanta, Georgia, attorney William
Cromwell. They are, Cromwell said, because a defendant's insurance company may
have limits on how much can be paid out to victims.
Cromwell said holding third-party individuals accountable in deaths caused by
drunken driving might be difficult, and raises the question of how liable third
parties might be in a wide range of civil action or criminal scenarios.
"What duty does have a friend have?" Cromwell said. "It seems to me that
prosecutors are seeking a lot of control on people's civil liberties."
Argued attorney Warren Dennis: "This case stretches the legal concept of
foreseeability. I don't have an obligation to see if a person I pass on the
street is a diabetic. There is no duty to take care of others."
At the end of Wednesday, the jury reported it was deadlocked. The judge,
however, insisted jurors stay with the case.
"I would ask you to deliberate with a view toward reaching a unanimous
verdict," said Superior Court Judge William Forrester.
Elliott, who was 22 at the time of the crash, had graduated from the Naval
Academy just two months before his death. His father said he hopes for a guilty
verdict in the case against Powell, but wants a message to be sent, regardless
of the verdict.
"It would be hard, if there is acquittal, not to take it personally, but we
know there is a greater good that will come out of this, regardless of this
verdict," said William Elliott
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