According to CNN, though a drunk driver that caused a wreck and killed four people will spend no time behind bars, the family of a teen that was critically injured has been awarded over $2 million in a personal injury settlement.
The injured teen in the lawsuit, S.M., had been riding in the back of a truck driven by 16 year-old E.C. during the accident last June. S.M. suffered with a brain injury that has left him bereft of his speech and bodily movement, and is considered minimally responsive.
A.L, S.M.'s brother, told reporters "They told us that, basically, that's as much as he's going to rehabilitate" in regards to his brother's prognosis.
Defense attorneys had referred to S.M. as having "affluenza" – as his parents were thought to have given him a privileged life, with the absence of limits, so he was blameless for the DUI. Instead of a jail sentence S.M. was ordered to a lockdown treatment facility and a 10-year probation.
The family has incurred over $1 million in medical bills for S.M. since the accident occurred. They filed the lawsuit naming both E.C.'s family and his father's business as defendants.
E.C. was driving a company-owned truck during the accident.
According to documents filed in Tarrant County's 96th District Court, the family will receive over $1 million in cash as well as periodic payments – most of which will be coming from their liability insurance carrier.
A lawyer for the S.M.'s family was upset that the press focused too much on the defense's label of "affluenza" when referring to the case. S.M.'s family attorney felt that making the idea of "affluenza" a valid defense for DUI involving death, and whipping the press into a frenzy over it, wasn't right.
However, according to attorney R.W., just one of two expert witnesses for the defense had used the term – and had only used it once. R.W. told CNN, "That term was not used by either of the lawyers that represented (E.C.), and it was not our defense, simply put."
The accident occurred when H.B. and her daughter S.B. drove from their home to come to the aid of B.M. as her vehicle had broken down on the road. Another passerby, youth pastor B.J., also stopped his car and offered aid.
H.B., S.B., B.M. and B.J. were all killed when the pickup truck driven by E.C. drove into them. The truck, continuing on, then hit another car – a parked car – that propelled that vehicle into traffic coming from the opposite direction.
There were two passengers in the back of E.C.'s truck that were injured. S.M. was one of them.
E.C.'s blood alcohol content was measured three hours later and, at that time, was three times over the legal limit for an adult to operative a vehicle – it registered at 0.24 percent.
Whatever charges you face that stem from drunk driving, contact a DUI attorney for help right away. Start working on your defense now to maintain your driving privileges and other freedoms.