Two young and successful North Dakota women are dead and a drunk driver will be prosecuted for their deaths in connection with a highway crash in Mandan, North Dakota, that was investigated by the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Officers reported finding alcohol inside the arrested man’s pickup truck at the crash site on the Bismarck Expressway near McKenzie Drive. In addition, a trooper wrote in a sworn affidavit that the suspect was belligerent and behaving with language and actions typical of someone under the influence of alcohol and or drugs. These two wrongful deaths occurred early Saturday morning, June 27.
As family and friends mourn the passing of two young women, two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular injury are pending against the 28-year-old pickup truck driver. The homicide charges carry a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 20 in prison, while the injury charge has a maximum sentence of five years. The two women were passengers in a vehicle driven by another woman who was seriously injured and hospitalized. She is from Dickinson, North Dakota.
In addition to sparking criminal court justice, this accident also could raise serious issues in civil court for purposes of a negligence lawsuit. Lawyers for next of kin will need to thoroughly investigate the prior footsteps of the pickup driver in order to hold accountable any bar, restaurant or other liquor provider who may have contributed to his impairment. North Dakota is one of the states that has statutory provisions that allow licensed establishments such as restaurants, bars, and liquor stores to be held liable for selling or serving alcohol to individuals who cause injuries or death as a result of their intoxication. Part of the analysis of co-called dram shop liability is whether the establishment sold or served alcohol to an obviously intoxicated individual or a person under the legal drinking age.
Our attorneys have handled many cases against bars, restaurants and others. In one case, they won $6,000,000 for a client whose leg was crushed in an accident and later had to be amputated. Contact our attorneys for a free consultation (click here now).