Giantone
08-03-2006, 08:28 PM
It's everywhere,it's why I don't drink at games .The drunks wreck it for everyone.
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Beer vendor verdict overturned
Thursday, August 3, 2006
By KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER
A state appeals court on Thursday tossed out a record $109 million award to a quadriplegic Cliffside Park girl and her mother who were severely injured in a crash caused by a drunken New York Giants fan more than six years ago.
The ruling means a new trial in the case of 9-year-old Antonia Verni, who was paralyzed from the neck down when drunken driver Daniel Lanzaro slammed his truck into her family’s car in Hasbrouck Heights.
Verni’s family sued Aramark Corp., which runs the beer concessions at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, where Lanzaro had downed more beers than he could remember.
After a month-long trial last year, a jury in Superior Court in Hackensack found that Aramark promoted a “culture of intoxication” at the stadium and carelessly sold beer to a visibly drunk Lanzaro. The jurors then granted the Verni’s the largest dram-shop liability award in the nation’s history.
A three-judge appellate panel, however, reversed the verdict Thursday, ruling that the trial was marred by numerous errors and lacked “true adversity that is an underpinning of our judicial system.”
The panel agreed with Aramark's attorneys that the evidence presented to prove a “culture of intoxication” at Giants Stadium – including wrongful hiring, insufficient training and supervision of alcohol-vending staff – should not have been admitted at trial.
The central issue during the trial was whether alcohol was negligently sold to a visibly drunk Lanzaro. The judges wrote that the evidence relating to the “culture of intoxication” was marginally relevant at best, while causing undue prejudice against Aramark.
Company attorneys on Thursday referred all questions to a spokeswoman, who issued a brief statement.
“While we are saddened by the injuries suffered by Antonia Verni, we are gratified by today’s court decision,” said Kristine Grow, the spokeswoman.
The Vernis’ attorney, David Mazie, stressed that Thursday’s ruling was not premised on the size of the award, but rather on “hyper-technical legal issues” surrounding the trial. He also vowed to take the case to the state Supreme Court.
“This is not the end of anything,” he said. “We will continue to fight on behalf of Antonia and her mother.”
Lanzaro, a 35-year-old Cresskill carpenter and a father of two, testified during the trial that he began drinking at a tailgate party at a Giants game on Oct. 24, 1999. He said he later went to two strip clubs with his friend, Michael Holder, and was “beyond drunk” when he smashed his pickup truck head-on into the Vernis’ car.
Antonia, 2 years old at the time, stopped breathing twice as paramedics tried to resuscitate her. The girl’s mother, Fazila Baksh Verni, was hospitalized for two months with multiple fractures and became partially blind.
Antonia’s father, Ronald, escaped with minor injuries, as did Lanzaro, whose blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident was more than twice the then-legal limit. He pleaded guilty to vehicular assault and is now serving a five-year prison term.
The Vernis originally sued several persons and entities, including Holder, Giants Stadium, the National Football League, the New York Giants and the two go-go bars where Lanzaro went after leaving the stadium.
The Vernis later settled the claim against those defendants for a total of about $1 million. Aramark went to trial and was found liable for 50 percent of the damages. Lanzaro was liable for the other half.
In Thursday’s decision, however, the appeals panel agreed with Aramark attorneys that the jury should have considered the percentage of liability of the other defendants – which could have lowered Aramark’s share of liability.
The trial in Hackensack involved extensive evidence on how alcohol was served at the stadium. Mazie argued that Aramark violated its own policy of not selling more than two beers at a time to patrons, and presented witnesses who testified that they never saw anyone – drunk or not – being refused drinks at the stadium.
Aramark attorneys argued that its managers, vendors and alcohol-compliance officers were well-trained in identifying drunken patrons but were fooled by Lanzaro, a seasoned drinker who showed no signs of intoxication.
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Beer vendor verdict overturned
Thursday, August 3, 2006
By KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER
A state appeals court on Thursday tossed out a record $109 million award to a quadriplegic Cliffside Park girl and her mother who were severely injured in a crash caused by a drunken New York Giants fan more than six years ago.
The ruling means a new trial in the case of 9-year-old Antonia Verni, who was paralyzed from the neck down when drunken driver Daniel Lanzaro slammed his truck into her family’s car in Hasbrouck Heights.
Verni’s family sued Aramark Corp., which runs the beer concessions at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, where Lanzaro had downed more beers than he could remember.
After a month-long trial last year, a jury in Superior Court in Hackensack found that Aramark promoted a “culture of intoxication” at the stadium and carelessly sold beer to a visibly drunk Lanzaro. The jurors then granted the Verni’s the largest dram-shop liability award in the nation’s history.
A three-judge appellate panel, however, reversed the verdict Thursday, ruling that the trial was marred by numerous errors and lacked “true adversity that is an underpinning of our judicial system.”
The panel agreed with Aramark's attorneys that the evidence presented to prove a “culture of intoxication” at Giants Stadium – including wrongful hiring, insufficient training and supervision of alcohol-vending staff – should not have been admitted at trial.
The central issue during the trial was whether alcohol was negligently sold to a visibly drunk Lanzaro. The judges wrote that the evidence relating to the “culture of intoxication” was marginally relevant at best, while causing undue prejudice against Aramark.
Company attorneys on Thursday referred all questions to a spokeswoman, who issued a brief statement.
“While we are saddened by the injuries suffered by Antonia Verni, we are gratified by today’s court decision,” said Kristine Grow, the spokeswoman.
The Vernis’ attorney, David Mazie, stressed that Thursday’s ruling was not premised on the size of the award, but rather on “hyper-technical legal issues” surrounding the trial. He also vowed to take the case to the state Supreme Court.
“This is not the end of anything,” he said. “We will continue to fight on behalf of Antonia and her mother.”
Lanzaro, a 35-year-old Cresskill carpenter and a father of two, testified during the trial that he began drinking at a tailgate party at a Giants game on Oct. 24, 1999. He said he later went to two strip clubs with his friend, Michael Holder, and was “beyond drunk” when he smashed his pickup truck head-on into the Vernis’ car.
Antonia, 2 years old at the time, stopped breathing twice as paramedics tried to resuscitate her. The girl’s mother, Fazila Baksh Verni, was hospitalized for two months with multiple fractures and became partially blind.
Antonia’s father, Ronald, escaped with minor injuries, as did Lanzaro, whose blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident was more than twice the then-legal limit. He pleaded guilty to vehicular assault and is now serving a five-year prison term.
The Vernis originally sued several persons and entities, including Holder, Giants Stadium, the National Football League, the New York Giants and the two go-go bars where Lanzaro went after leaving the stadium.
The Vernis later settled the claim against those defendants for a total of about $1 million. Aramark went to trial and was found liable for 50 percent of the damages. Lanzaro was liable for the other half.
In Thursday’s decision, however, the appeals panel agreed with Aramark attorneys that the jury should have considered the percentage of liability of the other defendants – which could have lowered Aramark’s share of liability.
The trial in Hackensack involved extensive evidence on how alcohol was served at the stadium. Mazie argued that Aramark violated its own policy of not selling more than two beers at a time to patrons, and presented witnesses who testified that they never saw anyone – drunk or not – being refused drinks at the stadium.
Aramark attorneys argued that its managers, vendors and alcohol-compliance officers were well-trained in identifying drunken patrons but were fooled by Lanzaro, a seasoned drinker who showed no signs of intoxication.