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The Restaurant That Served Alcohol To The Man Who Allegedly Hit The Two To Pay The Majority Of A $3.5 Million Judgment
A motorist put an end to Charity Burgess Wilson's dream of becoming a nurse and took away Terry Cook's ability to work. But the two fought back. And early this month, a Jones County Circuit Court jury ordered the restaurant that served alcohol to the man who allegedly hit the two to pay the majority of a $3.5 million judgment."We had stopped that Sunday night at Applebee's to eat and the man who later hit us came in 15 minutes later," said Wilson, who is now married and lives near Waynesboro.That was March 23, 2003. Wilson and Cook left the restaurant on a motorcycle Cook had just bought.But the motorcycle stalled about a half mile from the restaurant. And as the couple got off the bike, a car they said was driven by Rob Perez, then of Laurel, slammed into them - crushing their legs and damaging their shoulders."I am glad about what the jury did, but I am just ready for this to be over with," said Cook, an auto mechanic who has not worked since the accident and spent 2003 in a wheelchair.Wilson and Cook filed separate lawsuits naming Perez and the operator of Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar in Laurel, Quality Restaurant Concepts, as defendants. Wilson and Cook claimed that Applebee's served Perez liquor even though he appeared to be intoxicated.After a four-day trial that ended June 3, the jury awarded Cook, 34, $1.85 million and Wilson, 22, $1.66 million. The jury decided that Applebee's is responsible for 90 percent of the damages and Perez 10 percent.Columbia attorney Lawrence Hahn, who represented the Birmingham, Ala.-based Quality Restaurant Concepts during the trial, could not be reached for comment.Quality Restaurant's marketing director Wade Crawford said the company does not comment on matters that are under appeal.Perez, who was never charged in the accident, did not answer the civil court complaint filed against him and did not appear at the trial. He could not be reached at his last known address in East Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.Larry Knight, an attorney with the Mississippi chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said Wilson's and Cook's lawsuits are among the few successful civil cases within the last decade in Mississippi against a bar for serving alcohol to a customer.Knight said it's hard to win a case in Mississippi involving the sale of alcohol to a person who is intoxicated because the state does not have a specific "dram shop" law. Knight said those laws make it easier for people to recover damages when injured by drivers who are illegally served alcohol."The threshold in Mississippi is high," Knight said. "The person has to be visibly intoxicated before the law comes into play."Cook's attorney, Bill Jones of Petal, and Wilson's attorney, Dee Dee Bassi of Laurel, said jurors in Jones County sent a message that businesses serving alcohol need to heed the law."They had the number of a taxi service taped to the telephone at the bar and an internal policy that spelled out who not to serve," Jones said. "They did not follow their policy."Jones said Applebee's attempted to show that Perez was not visibly drunk."He had been drinking before he arrived at the bar and consumed in less than two hours six mixed drinks," Jones said. "We had witnesses."Knight said when illegal sale of alcohol plays a role in an alcohol-related accident, most states call it a "dram shop" case."We don't do that in Mississippi because our Legislature never passed the law," he said. "We have a series of appellate court opinions which accomplish about the same thing."In order to be successful in a lawsuit like this, the law calls for a person to be visibly drunk. The problem with that is people are impaired long before they are visibly drunk."The "dram shop" name comes from 18th century England when thousands of so-called "gin-shops" sold homemade gin by the dram (about a spoonful). When the king of England decided to tax the sale of gin, these dram shops quickly went underground in an effort to avoid paying taxes.Today's legal system considers any establishment selling liquor illegally as a modern day equivalent of the dram shops of the 1700s. Besides bars and liquor stores, the dram shop laws also can apply to restaurants, social clubs and even private events where liquor is sold.Both Wilson and Cook were left with permanent injuries.Wilson is now attending Meridian Community College studying to be a licensed practical nurse. She said she doesn't "know that I could ever work as a nurse, but I know I would try."Wilson had worked three months on a new job and was one day away from joining the insurance plan when she was hurt in the accident. Her hospital bills top $50,000 and more surgery is needed."My leg was crushed and the nerve in my leg severed so I have a foot that hangs," she said. "Another surgery, what they call a tendon transfer, will help hold my foot up so I don't always have to wear a brace."That surgery will add another $20,000 to her bill, she said.With major scar tissue and a damaged hand, Wilson can't stand or walk for any distance. But she will make one walk - and that's in August 2006 when she graduates.Cook said he wants to use the money he receives from the judgment to open a shop that builds and rebuilds motorcycles."I want my life back," Cook said. "I want to be able to work again at something I can do. If I own the shop then I can work at my own pace."The accident shattered nearly three inches of bone in his left leg, damaged his shoulder, elbow and ankle and broke his arm in three places.Cook said he knew Perez before the accident. After the accident, Cook said, Perez left the scene, drove a distance away and then walked back."We had friends at the accident scene who he was talking with and they became suspicious," Cook said. "At the scene, no one knew he was the driver so he was not arrested."But friends went to his house and saw the condition of his car.Cook said Laurel police interviewed Perez the day after the accident.
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