Submitted by Aiken Jacobsen on
A recent decision was made by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office not to prosecute the owner of a party bus for felony manslaughter, despite the recommendation of the California Highway Patrol that homicide charges should be brought in the case. However, this decision has apparently not affected the wrongful death lawsuit that the family of the accident victim has filed against the bus owner. The bus was involved in a fatal accident in October 2004.
An issue in the district attorney’s refusal to prosecute was uncertainty whether the allegedly faulty condition of the passenger door of the bus. The door reportedly opened while the bus was in motion, resulting in a passenger falling out of the bus and being killed.
In the criminal law setting, the allegation that the bus involved in the accident had been driven 51 times after the CHP had issued a cease-operation order to keep it off the roads was apparently not a strong enough foundation for a showing of negligence. The order was based on safety concerns other than the condition of the passenger door. Because of this, a jury might reasonably conclude that if the order did not mention the door, then the bus owner might not have been negligent for not fixing it.
In a civil wrongful death lawsuit, however, there are different standards that must be met to indicate negligence. This means that even if the available evidence cannot prove that the bus owner actually knew of the alleged door defect, it is at least possible that he should have known, and that the disregard for the cease-operation order may have led to an avoidable death.
This can all seem confusing; and after a serious accident, it can be even more difficult to try and figure out what to expect. That is why it can be important for accident victims to speak with an attorney who can explain a person’s options and help them understand what to do next.
Source: Los Angeles Times, "No charges planned in party bus death," Ryan Menezes and Ruben Vives, May 1, 2014
