Texas Car Crash Evokes Wrongful Death Suit

The family of a Texas woman who was killed in a head-on car crash on June 21, 2010 had employed an attorney to bring a wrongful death suit for her. The Robles family’s lawyer stated that forty-seven-year-olds Marina Lisa Robles and Joe Luis Ramon were killed when the car that they were driving was hit by a business vehicle, which was driven by a man with previous alcohol and/or drug offenses.

Public records maintained that despite that supposed history, the sole conviction that appeared on Justin Paul Pruett’s record was a 1998 Class B misdemeanor for marijuana possession. However, the plaintiffs had begun a wrongful death lawsuit against Pruett and his employer, A-1 Fire and Safety Equipment Company. Pruett was charged regarding the accident. He was let go from the Ector County Detention Center on $50,000 in bonds and confronted two counts of intoxication and manslaughter in the deaths of the two victims of the June 21 car cash.  wrongful death

As stated in a July 2, 2010 account in the Odessa American newspaper, Robles stopped completely at an intersection and was preparing to turn onto Business 20’s eastbound lanes close to Center Avenue when Pruett’s eastbound truck turned off Business 20 toward Center Avenue. In doing so, the truck crashed head-on with the Robles’ car. The Department of Public Safety report specified that Pruett was driving a company truck at the time. In the Robles’ wrongful death suit against Pruett, the plaintiffs were additionally naming Pruett’s employer for taking on and handing Pruett over a company vehicle. The plaintiffs had asked for a jury trial through their Texas accident lawyer.

What is a Wrongful Death Claim?

A wrongful death claim is existent when a person dies because of the lawful responsibility of another individual. The right to file a lawsuit for wrongful death is a somewhat new idea. Common law, the laws brought to the United States from England, did forbid this type of lawsuit. However, during the twentieth century, state and federal courts established the right to bring a wrongful death action. All U.S. states currently have some sort of wrongful death law.

Wrongful death claims entail all kinds of deadly accidents from uncomplicated car accidents to difficult medical malpractice or product liability cases. People, corporations, and governmental agencies can be lawfully in the wrong for acting carelessly (falling short of acting as a reasonable person would have acted) and acting deliberately.

Who Might Be Sued for a Wrongful Death?

Wrongful death lawsuits can be brought against an extensive array of people, corporations, government agencies, and employees. For instance, in a car accident concerning a flawed roadway and a drunk driver, a wrongful death action may consist of the following defendants:

  • The driver or employer in the wrong in the car accident

  • The designer or builder of the flawed roadway

  • A government agent who was unsuccessful in offering suitable warnings concerning a road hazard that brought about the accident

  • The manufacturer, distributor, or installer of a defective or hazardous part of the vehicle

  • The people who sold, served, or supplied alcohol to the inebriated driver, or

  • The owner of the property where the alcohol was served