GUILTY FL - Three killed, one injured by drunk driver, Hudson, 25 Dec 2007

Donjeta

Adji Desir, missing from Florida
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In our continuing series, Insane Lawsuits, we have the dubious pleasure to present an enterprising gentleman from Florida. Meet David Belniak, 38:

article-2088156-0F8186BC00000578-521_233x423.jpg


This amazing specimen of human intellect drove under the influence of alcohol, cocaine and Xanax, crashed into the back of a car that was stopped in a red light, driving 88mph in a 55mph zone, killing three people in 2007 and the fourth injured person never fully recovered and died last year. Mind you, it was not the first time he killed someone while driving, he had hit a pedestrian in 1997.

He admitted his guilt. Obviously the stopped vehicle didn't crash into him, so....

Anyway, guess what this shining beacon of human decency has now decided to do?

Anyone?
Anyone?

Right, the gentleman in the blue shirt in the back row guessed it.

Our genial friend is suing the dead driver's estate for $15.000 and demands compensation for pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life'.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-deceased-victim-mental-anguish-injuries.html
 
Insane is definitely the right word for this man. Geez.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blo...laughter-sues-victim-130753893--abc-news.html

A man who had pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter stemming from a crash near Tampa, Fla., on Christmas Day 2007 now denies causing the crash that killed three of the four people in the vehicle he hit.

David Belniak has sued the estate of Ray McWilliams, the now-deceased driver of the other vehicle, for more than $15,000, saying it was actually McWilliams who caused the crash by abruptly changing lanes, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

McWilliams initially survived the crash but later died. Belniak was sentenced to 12 years in prison, where he remains.
------

"There aren't any facts that support the allegation [Tuomey] is making," Deskins added. "That's why the victims' family is breathless" at Belniak's suit.

Six eyewitnesses said McWilliams was stopped a red light when Belniak, at 70to 90 mph, and never veering or braking, rear-ended him, Deskins said.


More at link....
 
oh pfffftttt..

It's hard to dispute six eyewitnesses who said McWilliams was stopped a red light when Belniak, at 70 to 90 mph, and never veering or braking, rear-ended him.

Then there's little tid-bit:

Belniak was sentenced to 12 years in prison, where he remains.

There's NO way a judge or jury is gonna give this guy a nickel. But what really irks me is he is putting the family through more pain! Grrrrrrr......

MOO

Mel
 
Unbelievable. Yet strangely, not surprising.
 
A little more detail here.

http://autos.aol.com/article/why-a-...-suing-his-victims/?ncid=txtlnkusauto00000020

He is represented by his sister who is an attorney. It sounds like she is a world class enabler.

Attorney Debra A. Tuomey, in making her brother's filing, said the Florida Highway Patrol's investigation of the case was a "government sanctioned assassination against one individual." Her suit suggests that the police and prosecutor's office were driven by Belniak's history as a DUI driver and convicted drug dealer rather than the facts of the accident .
 
:waiting:

My knowledge of American civil law is shocking so I hope you don't mind me asking, but can judges over there throw cases out before they're heard for being frivolous or without merit? If the family of these poor people are forced to run up a legal bill for defending this action (I know if he loses, costs will be awarded - but how the hell is he going to be able to pay them?), I'll just give in.

In the UK, we have a list of 'vexatious litigants', which prevents idiots from continually filing suit for frivolous reasons. They have to ask for special dispensation from the court, if they feel the need to sue someone because they don't like the shape of their toenails.

I have no words for the level of stupidity, selfishness and self-entitlement needed to do something like this. I just don't. Sister Attorney should take alternative employment as a professional village idiot. :maddening:
 
Insane is definitely the right word for this man. Geez.

I'd use the word :censored: but I'd get banned.

:waiting:

My knowledge of American civil law is shocking so I hope you don't mind me asking, but can judges over there throw cases out before they're heard for being frivolous or without merit? If the family of these poor people are forced to run up a legal bill for defending this action (I know if he loses, costs will be awarded - but how the hell is he going to be able to pay them?), I'll just give in.

In the UK, we have a list of 'vexatious litigants', which prevents idiots from continually filing suit for frivolous reasons. They have to ask for special dispensation from the court, if they feel the need to sue someone because they don't like the shape of their toenails.

I have no words for the level of stupidity, selfishness and self-entitlement needed to do something like this. I just don't. Sister Attorney should take alternative employment as a professional village idiot. :maddening:

Yes, judges can throw frivolous suits out, but it doesn't happen as much as it should. I LOVE the idea of making certain people have to get permission to sue after filing frivolous suits over and over.
 
:waiting:

My knowledge of American civil law is shocking so I hope you don't mind me asking, but can judges over there throw cases out before they're heard for being frivolous or without merit? If the family of these poor people are forced to run up a legal bill for defending this action (I know if he loses, costs will be awarded - but how the hell is he going to be able to pay them?), I'll just give in.

In the UK, we have a list of 'vexatious litigants', which prevents idiots from continually filing suit for frivolous reasons. They have to ask for special dispensation from the court, if they feel the need to sue someone because they don't like the shape of their toenails.

I have no words for the level of stupidity, selfishness and self-entitlement needed to do something like this. I just don't. Sister Attorney should take alternative employment as a professional village idiot. :maddening:

Jonathan Lee Riches comes to mind. :crazy:
 
The family should sue him to oblivion. :furious:
 
Jonathan Lee Riches comes to mind. :crazy:

I'd never heard of him before! Suing the Eiffel Tower...at least that takes some imagination. I see he's due to be released in March - at least he'll have something to keep himself occupied with, I guess.

So if the judge doesn't throw this out, the family of the people killed could end up out of pocket for the cost of defending the action? That seems so unfair. :maddening:
 
I'd never heard of him before! Suing the Eiffel Tower...at least that takes some imagination. I see he's due to be released in March - at least he'll have something to keep himself occupied with, I guess.

So if the judge doesn't throw this out, the family of the people killed could end up out of pocket for the cost of defending the action? That seems so unfair. :maddening:

I believe in some suits the judge can make the plaintiff pay all costs, including the defendants legal bills.

I hope the family gets even more now. I hope they bring this up in their pain and suffering phase of their suit.
 
But if he's in prison, he won't be able to pay them anything surely?

They should make the attorney jointly liable for any costs incurred from the defence of frivolous lawsuits. I bet we'd see a drop in them then!
 
I wonder if this guy even had insurance? The only way this family will see any money is through his insurance. I have read a few cases like this, one guy sued because he was hurt while burglarizing a house and got hurt, and yes , he won.
 
Following up from June...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...-christmas-2007-crash-was-unavoidable/1234317

Convicted driver Belniak says fatal Christmas 2007 crash was 'unavoidable'
By Erin Sullivan, Times staff writer
Erin SullivanTampa Bay Times In Print: Saturday, June 9, 2012

Eyewitnesses said McWilliams' Tahoe was sitting at a red light on U.S. 19 at Little Road in Hudson when the pickup rear-ended it, never braking, swerving or slowing down. Authorities said Belniak had Xanax, alcohol and cocaine metabolites in his system. McWilliams said in a deposition that he and his family were just sitting at the light.

"I looked in my rear and kind of seen this truck coming at us," McWilliams said, according to his deposition, which was read aloud in court this week.

"This guy is going to hit us!" McWilliams said he told his family. "Brace yourself! This guy is not stopping!"

Belniak's lawsuit claims that McWilliams abruptly veered from the left turn lane into the left through lane, giving Belniak no time to avoid the crash. Frank Fore, a crash reconstruction expert hired by Belniak's attorneys, testified Friday that the Tahoe was stopped at a 5 degree angle — a slight tilt that his defense could use as evidence to back up Belniak's version of events. Fore and John Murdoch, the expert hired by the families' estates, both agreed that the Tahoe was at a standstill when it was hit and the brake lights had been on for 8 seconds. Fore said Belniak was going 53 mph when he hit the Tahoe. Murdoch said he was going 86 mph. Belniak testified he was going between 55 and 60 mph.

So the brainiac says that the accident was unavoidable but it sounds to me that if only he hadn't been driving so high he would have noticed that there was a red light and would not have approached it going 55 mph and more without braking which would have meant that even if the other driver changed lanes abruptly the crash would have happened at a lower speed and not been as dangerous. Totally avoidable, unless it was the "driving high" part that was unavoidable, for him.

The result of the trial:


NEW PORT RICHEY — David Belniak was the only one at fault in a Christmas 2007 crash that killed three people and should pay millions to family members of the people who died, a jury decided Tuesday night.

The jury of four women and two men awarded $4.5 million each to three sisters whose parents were killed in the crash.

"We have the worst kind of villain here and he really doesn't care," attorney Steven Meyer said in his closing argument for one of the victims' estates. "He takes no responsibility. And by countersuing, he aggravated an already intolerable situation."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...ns-in-fatal-christmas-2007-crash-case/1234935

Not sure if the guy has two dimes to rub together let alone millions to pay anybody but at least he didn't win his lawsuit.
 
Following up from June...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...-christmas-2007-crash-was-unavoidable/1234317





So the brainiac says that the accident was unavoidable but it sounds to me that if only he hadn't been driving so high he would have noticed that there was a red light and would not have approached it going 55 mph and more without braking which would have meant that even if the other driver changed lanes abruptly the crash would have happened at a lower speed and not been as dangerous. Totally avoidable, unless it was the "driving high" part that was unavoidable, for him.

The result of the trial:






http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...ns-in-fatal-christmas-2007-crash-case/1234935

Not sure if the guy has two dimes to rub together let alone millions to pay anybody but at least he didn't win his lawsuit.

His auto insurance should cover up to the limit on his liability, whatever that is.
 
I think most insurances I have looked at seem to have a cap of $250,000/per person injured. So are there ones that have no limit?
 
I have no idea but if I was an insurance company I'd have charged him an arm and a leg for a no limit liability policy after he had already killed one person in traffic.
 

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