Jury award halved for Bensalem woman injured after driving drunk

Posted: Sunday, March 31, 2013

A Bucks County jury has awarded $1.4 million to Bensalem woman who was severely injured in 2008 after she crashed her car while intoxicated.

But the award was cut in half, citing Marie Castelli’s own negligence in the accident. Castelli took the stand at the trial and admitted partial responsibility.

The jury verdict earlier this month found that the Knights of Columbus on Woodbourne Road was also negligent when one of its employees continued serving alcohol to Castelli on March 8, 2008, and let her drive though she appeared “visibly intoxicated.”    

The win is a rarity for drunken driving cases, in which the plaintiff is typically a third-party who was injured in an accident, said attorney Carin O’Donnell of Stark & Stark, who represented Castelli in the civil suit.

The lawsuits involving drunken drivers as victims are considered particularly tough to win since people often don’t feel sympathetic toward the injured person, O’Donnell said.

The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching attorney John Reed Evans, who is listed in court records as representing the Knights of Columbus.

The day of the accident, Castelli, who worked as a bartender at the Knights of Columbus, attended a work meeting, according to the suit. She no longer works there, her attorney said.

Afterward, Castelli remained at the club for about five hours where she consumed “multiple alcoholic beverages and became visibly intoxicated,” according to the suit. The suit also mentions that Castelli had taken prescription pain medicine for back pain before the meeting.

O’Donnell said that one of the defense experts estimated that Castelli would have appeared visibly intoxicated between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. A witness testified that at 3:30 p.m. Castelli appeared drunk enough that someone asked another patron to give her a ride home, O’Donnell said.

A bartender did cut off Castelli at one point, and at a shift change told the bartender coming on duty not to serve her. But Castelli was served at least two more drinks before 6 p.m., when she left the bar, O’Donnell said.

Around 6:30 p.m. that night, Castelli was driving south on Woodbourne Road between Bristol Oxford Valley and New Falls roads in Middletown when she struck the rear of a stopped car, according to the suit. The car was parked in front of a downed tree that was blocking the road.

After striking the car, Castelli’s car traveled across the northbound lane of Woodbourne Road and ended up in a woody area, hitting at least one more tree before stopping, according to the suit.

Her blood alcohol level two hours after the accident was .198, which is more than double Pennsylvania’s legal limit of .08.

Castelli suffered serious head, neck and back injuries including a “severe” spinal cord injury and fractured vertebrae. She has residual partial paralysis on her right side including her leg and hand, O’Donnell said.

Castelli was charged with drunken driving as a result of the accident, pleaded guilty in Bucks County Court and was sentenced to 90 days to one year in Bucks County prison, according to online court records.

The lawsuit claims that the Knights of Columbus failed to adequately and properly train and supervise employees in the serving of alcoholic beverages. O’Donnell said the business now requires Responsible Alcohol Management Program training for employees

“We just want to make sure people who have liquor licenses, and get to serve alcohol, have responsibilities as well,” O’Donnell added.

In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to sell or serve alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, but the liquor-license holder (typically the establishment’s owner) not the employees, is held criminally and civilly liable for the actions of an intoxicated customer, according to the Pennsylvania Tavern Association.

Pennsylvania State Police are responsible for enforcing liquor laws, but typically handle violations administratively — by taking action against an establishment’s liquor license. Instead of jail time, the potential penalties include fines, license suspensions or revocations.

Seventy-eight Pennsylvania establishments with liquor licenses were cited in 2011 for serving visibly intoxicated people, down from 120 citations the year before.

To promote responsible alcohol service, the Pennsylvania Tavern Association has pushed RAMP training for members. The training is designed to educate Pennsylvania licensees and their employees on the policies and regulations of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

As of last year, the training is mandatory for new liquor license holders and managers, but there is no requirement that employees who serve or sell alcohol be RAMP trained.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Did You Know?

Liquor License holders who've received RAMP training*

Owners/Managers

Pennsylvania: 24,500

Bucks County: 166

Montgomery County: 285

Sellers/Servers

Pennsylvania: more than 176,000

Bucks County: 1,338

Montgomery County: 2,746

* Since 2001

Source: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Just The Facts

• Most states have criminal and administrative laws prohibiting sales of alcohol to intoxicated people; only Florida and Nevada have no such laws at the state level.
• Pennsylvania also is among the 27 states that apply criminal penalties to "any person" who serves alcohol; in New Jersey criminal penalties only apply to liquor license-holders and server/employees, according to the report. Pennsylvania and New Jersey hold only the liquor-license holder civilly liable.
• Under dram shop laws in Pennsylvania, a bar owner can be held responsible for damages even if the customer drank a single alcoholic beverage in their establishment hours before an alcohol-related accident or incident.
• Since the RAMP debuted in 2001, more than 5,100 liquor license holders have received the certification, roughly one-quarter of the state's 19,023 active liquor licenses, according to the LCB database. To obtain certification, establishments complete the five-part program, which among its requirements is that at least half the staff that serves alcohol be RAMP trained.
• As of last year, only 48 of Bucks County's 556 establishments that had active liquor licenses - less than 10 percent - and 59 of Montgomery County's 804 establishments - about 7 percent a- obtained it.

What is a dram shop law?

"Dram shop" is the legal term for any establishment that sells liquor by the glass, like bars and taverns. The name comes from England where gin was once sold by the spoonful or "dram."

Pennsylvania' s dram shop law applies not only to businesses that serve alcohol, like bars and restaurants, but also to private events. The law may apply when the server has committed other liquor violations, such as serving alcohol to a minor, serving alcohol after hours, or serving without a license.

In that case, the business or individual who served alcohol illegally may be criminally charged for the violation, as well as sued for financial damages by the victims of the person they allowed to become intoxicated.

Most often, the Pennsylvania dram shop law is used after an intoxicated person causes a serious auto accident. It's often a part of a larger lawsuit filed against the driver himself or herself. However, a dram shop lawsuit doesn't have to be an auto accident. If a bar serves a visibly intoxicated person who then starts a fistfight and seriously injures another patron, that patron could sue the bar under the law.

Source: Stark & Stark, National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration, Pennsylvania Tavern Association

More Information

The Pennsylvania Tavern Association offers Responsible Alcohol Management Program training and testing online 24/7 atwww.ramptraining.com 

Licensees can make a group purchase of training courses for up to 300 employees. The test is $25 with one free re-test if needed. Course certification is printable and the information is automatically sent to the Liquor Control Board.