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Wrongful Death News

Pharmacist Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit (WQOW Eau Claire)An Eau Claire pharmacist, who’s in prison for the drug overdose death of his wife, now faces a wrongful death lawsuit. Wrongful death claim settled for $240,000 (The Gazette)A wrongful-death lawsuit was settled in March for $240,000 in the death of Anthony Moore, 16, of South Amana.Moore was sitting in the trunk of a car driven by Nicole Eckman, 16, of Amana on May 13, 2005, when Eckman drove out of the driveway at the Brick Haus Restaurant in Amana, according to a police report. Moore fell off the back of the car, suffering fatal head injuries.Carole Moore, ... Doctor involved in wrongful death suit barred from ER practice (The News)NEW GLASGOW - A former Aberdeen Hospital doctor involved in a local wrongful death civil lawsuit has been barred from emergency room practice by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia. Salinas wrongful Taser death lawsuit in court (The Salinas Californian)A Salinas family’s wrongful death lawsuit against the city and makers of the Taser stun gun is under way in San Jose, the city’s attorney’s office confirmed Thursday. Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Montvue (Page News and Courier)Luray - A wrongful death lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages has been filed against MontVue Nursing Home by the family of a woman who died last year after living at the home for three months. Luray attorney Jason Spitler filed the lawsuit in Page County Circuit Court last week on behalf of his client Joyce Smith, the daughter of 85-ye

 

Setting the story straight about Jonathan David Chatham

UPDATE!!!

We initially read of this story on an Austin news website. Following normal protocol we made contact with the news source to get a general explanation of the events followed by a phone call to the involved authorities to further validate the story. It is now clear that virtually everyone got it wrong.

In the original blog post (shown in it's original context below) the events were described as they were initially believed to have transpired. We first became alerted to the possibility of inaccurate information when we were contacted by a friend of Mr. Chatham's named Kyle. Kyle explained that he thought the initial report seemed suspect based on his conversation with a state trooper involved with the investigation. Kyle explained to one of our law office's legal assistants via an online chat that initial reports portrayed both drivers as driving in the opposite direction of their respective homes. 911 had received several calls about a driver going the wrong way but it did seem odd that both drivers would be driving the opposite direction of their homes in addition to one of the drivers driving in the wrong lane of traffic.

Kyle explained that Jonathon was celebrating his birthday but it was not with a night of bar hopping. Rather he visited his parents shortly before the accident and based on Jonathon’s character and the short amount of time that passed between the visit with his parents and the accident, Kyle explained that he felt it was very unlikely that Jonathon would have had anything to drink. The initial report made it seem as if investigators expected to discover that Chatham was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Kyle felt this was inaccurate and unfair.

In the past couple of weeks our law office received emails from several of Chatham's friends who pointed out other tid bits of information to set the story straight.

It is now apparent that Jauquin Avila had been drinking that night and that he appears to be the wrong-way driver that 911 had received numerous calls about. According to the toxicology report Avila had a blood alcohol content several times higher than the legal limit. It is now clear that the accident was likely caused when Mr. Avila became disoriented due to his intoxicated state and drove down the access road to the interstate (and some indicate that he may even have entered the actual interstate driving against traffic for a period of time). This resulted in the head on collision that killed both Avila and Chatham.

Naturally we wish to portray the events of a fatal accident as accurately as possible but in this specific case it appears that the truth was a little more elusive than normal. Through the diligence of the investigation and eye witness statements the story was ultimately set straight and Jonathon Chatham's reputation was restored.

A note from E. Michael Grossman:

As a father myself, I can't imagine how Mr. Chatham's parents must feel after losing their child. It must be heart breaking. Based on the overwhelming response we received via email I think it is pretty clear that Mr. Chatham had many friends and relative who cared for him and it is a tragedy that someone who made such a lasting impression on those around him was lost due to the carelessness of others.

I have helped numerous families in this type of situation and most do not realize initially that it is not quite as simple as one person causing the accident. If Mr. Avila had been drinking at a restaurant or bar that establishment could be partially liable as well. This is known as a dramshop case. Effectively it is a wrongful death claim against an establishment that violated the rules related to serving alcohol to an intoxicated person and then allowing them to drive away from the establishment. I Jonathon's family and friends the best and I personally wish to thank them for contacting us to help set the record straight.


the story as it was originally posted:

On April 15, 2008 a horrific accident occurred on the access to road to 1-35 near Austin, TX.

58-year-old Joaquin Avila was killed when his Kia was struck head-on by a Ford Contour driven by 22-year-old Jonathan David Chatham. Rescue workers described the vehicles as not being recognizable. The impact occurred at such high speed that the vehicles were both completely destroyed.

Avila's car was forced into a pickup truck driven by Baldemar Perez, Jr. Perez survived the impact.

Authorities are awaiting a toxicology report to determine if Chatham was drinking prior to the accident. Chatham was celebrating his 22nd birthday.

Authorities have yet to determine exactly how the crash occurred and whether or not Chatham was driving on the access road or the interstate prior to losing control and causing the accident.

Posted by: E. Michael Grossman | Posted on: 4/16/2008 | Comments (4)

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Visitor Comments

Lily said:

Does this mean the body will not be released to family until the investigation is completed? We are relatives who live in Merida, Yuc., Mexico

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Attorney E. Michael Grossman said:

Generally speaking the coroner will perform an autopsy on the body and collect blood specimens and other such samples. Usually they have to send the samples out to a lab before they can make a determination of whether or not the deceased had a high concentration of alcohol in their blood stream. In most cases the body is returned to the family to perform normal funerary rights before the results of the toxicology report are concluded.

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Kyle said:

Is it possible Chatham was driving North to his apartment in Belton and Avila was driving South?

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Anomynous said:

Initial reports were backwards. Avila was going south on and Chatham was going north.

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