Boston Injury Lawyer Blog
Nearly four and a half years after a Massachusetts car crash killed two friends and injured a third on the night of the 2008 New England County Music Festival, a Norfolk Superior Court judge says that the families’ Foxborough, MA persona injury/wrongful death lawsuit can go to trial. The defendants had sought to have the case dismissed.
The catastrophic crash occurred after the three women, 24-year-old Norton resident Nina Houlihan, 19-year-old Mansfield resident Alexa Latteo, and 20-year-old Milton resident Debra Davis drank alcohol at the Gillette Stadium parking lot during the music event. They later crashed their car into a tree about a mile away from the site.
Latteo, who had been driving, died from her Foxborough, Massachusetts motor vehicle accident injuries, as did Milton. Houlihan survived with injuries. She and the Davis family later filed a civil case against Kraft Group, which owns the stadium, as well as several affiliated entities, including security firm TeamOps LLC, NPS LLC, and FXP LLC. The friends reportedly were tailgating “all day” at the Stadium even though they didn’t have tickets to the event.
The plaintiffs are alleging inadequate supervision of the parking lot where the minors were drinking alcohol and they contend that the defendants are partially to blame. Some 54,000 fans were in the stadium that day, with tens of thousands of others reportedly in the lot. The popular country music festival had become known among law enforcement as one of the largest binge drinking tailgating events involving minors in New England. According to a recent WBUR.org article, Houlihan, who sustained a broken pelvis and numerous fractures and is seeking $250,000, said that there was fighting and disorder and it was “like a zoo” at the lot. She claims that she never saw any security until about 6p, when they were told that anyone who didn’t have a ticket needs to leave or face arrest. This, she notes, even though many of them had been drinking all day. (Davis’s family wants at least $2.5 million.)
Premise owners must provide the proper supervision and security measures on their property to minimize the chances of serious injury accidents or crimes. . This is very important at large venues when there are so many members of the public in attendance. When dangerous or illegal activities are allowed to happen, people can get hurt.
Determining who is liable can be challenging in any type of Boston personal injury case, which is why you want to work with an experience Massachusetts law firm that knows how to investigate and pursue such claims. Sometimes, a responsible party is one who wasn’t necessarily the direct cause of the accident but still may have played a contributing role in the incident.
Judge green-lights lawsuit against the Kraft Group after fatal accident, Boston, December 8, 2012
Lawsuit, Underage Drinking Test Liability Of Kraft, Gillette Stadium, WBUR.org, November 20, 2012
More Blog Posts:
A Decrease in Massachusetts Highway Deaths Doesn’t Mean Boston Car Drivers Get to Be Less Vigilant, Boston Injury Lawyers Blog, December 17, 2012
Quincy, MA Increases Enforcement and Education after Pedestrian Accidents, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, December 6, 2012
Massachusetts Woman Dies in Tractor-Trailer Accident, Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog, April 14, 2010
