|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
February 11, 2002Wedding car crash lawsuit settled-Lawyers fought over who was driving the Corvette when two people were killedBy PATRICK SULLIVANRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Perhaps no one except the sole survivor will ever know for sure who was driving a Corvette that flipped in June 2000, killing two passengers. The survivor, Justin Matthew Rodebaugh, maintains that he was not behind the wheel and the police agree. Whoever was behind the wheel has been the subject of a million-dollar civil lawsuit involving six lawyers, stacks of court documents and experts with conflicting theories of how the accident happened. The trial had been scheduled for last week but the lawsuit was settled, leaving those involved relieved they would not have to relive the tragedy that started out at a wedding reception south of Traverse City 20 months ago. Guy Harris, 27, and Matthew Jacobs, 26, died when the Corvette flipped in a single-car accident after Harris, Jacobs and Rodebaugh left a friend's wedding reception in a borrowed car to drive to a convenience store. The lawsuit, filed originally against the owner of the Corvette, Gerald Lynn Francisco, settled two weeks ago with Harris' estate receiving $1 million, Jacobs' estate $312,500 and Rodebaugh $37,500. Lawyers fought over whether Jacobs or Rodebaugh had been driving that day. Also at issue in the suit was whether Francisco had given implied permission to the men to take his car. "This is just a good thing for everyone concerned, having this case over, it was very painful for everyone involved," said Harris' lawyer, Blake Ringsmuth. Harris left behind a wife and child. Lawyer Enrico Schaefer, who represented Jacobs, said the case was particularly tough for the family of his client because they never believed that Jacobs was the driver, as an investigation by the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Department had determined. "My family was never really in it for the money," Schaefer said. "They in their hearts knew Matt couldn't have been driving." When the Corvette pulled away from the wedding reception, witnesses said Rodebaugh was driving. According to the police theory, Rodebaugh would have had to have stopped the car to switch places with Jacobs, something that Schaefer said no one saw happen. Settling the case was tough, Schaefer said, because in the end it came down to negotiating how to split $350,000 between Jacobs and Rodebaugh. "How can I ask these people to say, well, we'll just pay Justin off in order to make this go away?" Schaefer said. "As much as (Jacobs' father) would have loved a jury verdict naming Rodebaugh the driver, he couldn't put all of those people through having to testify." Lawyer Patrick Heintz, who represented Rodebaugh as a plaintiff in the suit, dismissed Schaefer's contention that Rodebaugh could have been proved to be the driver. "The authorities who investigated all concluded that my client was not the driver," Heintz said. "And we had strong expert testimony." Heintz said his client also settled to make the case go away. "He has a lot of emotional consequences as the sole survivor, he wanted to let the situation stand as is to avoid aggravation to everyone involve," he said. Heintz said the case is not over for his client, because he still could collect the balance of his own $300,000 uninsured motorists policy. Lawyer Mark Bickel, who represented Francisco, said his client still maintains he never meant for Harris, Jacobs and Rodebaugh, who had been drinking that day, to drive off in his car. "Making the decision to pay money on behalf of Mr. Franscisco was very difficult," Bickel said. Bickel said the court ruled that his client never gave expressed consent for the three men to drive his car, and he said Francisco has all along maintained that he didn't give implied consent, which would have been an issue at trial. Patrick Sullivan is the reporter for crime, courts and public safety. He can be reached at (231) 933-1478, or at psullivan@record-eagle.com |
|
