$15 Million Dram Shop Verdict Against Bessemer BP Store Upheld by Alabama Supreme Court
Won by Hare Wynn Newell & Newton.
A Bessemer jury returned a $15 million verdict against the owners of a BP convenience store that sold beer to an underage driver whose vehicle struck a tree, killing a 13-year-old passenger and injuring three others in May 2007.
What happened
On the evening of May 2, 2007, a teenage driver purchased beer from the 14th Street BP convenience store in Bessemer, Alabama despite being under the legal drinking age of 21. She and several passengers, including a 13-year-old boy, were on a public highway in Tuscaloosa County when she lost control of the vehicle. The car left the road and struck a tree, ejecting all occupants. The 13-year-old passenger died from his injuries. The three survivors suffered serious harm, including broken bones, a ruptured spleen, head injuries, and lung injuries.
The store was owned by Nineteenth Street Investments Inc. and operated by Ibrahim Sabbah. Four separate lawsuits were filed against the business under Alabama's Dram Shop Act, which allows civil claims against alcohol vendors who sell to minors when the sale causes death or injury. The cases were consolidated in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Bessemer Division.
Hare Wynn Newell and Newton attorneys Bruce McKee and Ashley Peinhardt tried the consolidated cases alongside co-counsel Pat Lavette of Davenport, Lavette and Cleckler. Plaintiffs presented evidence that the store had a documented history of selling alcohol to underage customers without verifying identification.
The jury returned a verdict totaling more than $15 million across the four plaintiffs. The mother of the 13-year-old who died received $7 million. One injured survivor was awarded $750,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages. A second injured passenger received combined awards of $3.9 million. The driver's mother, who also suffered harm, received $500,000 in punitive damages. The award was reported at the time as one of the largest dram shop verdicts ever affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court.
Defendants appealed all four verdicts. On November 20, 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a summary affirmance without opinion, leaving each of the trial court judgments intact. No reduction or remittitur was ordered.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Davenport, Lavette and Cleckler (co-counsel firm): Store That Sold Alcohol to Minors in Fatal Crash Will Have to Pay $15 Million (names Bruce McKee and Ashley Peinhardt of Hare Wynn)
- 2.Davenport, Lavette and Cleckler (co-counsel firm): $15 Million Verdicts Affirmed by Alabama Supreme Court (Nov. 20, 2015 ruling, no reduction)
- 3.Attorney at Law Magazine: Ashley Peinhardt: You Have to Let Them Know You Care (editorial profile confirming case and Supreme Court argument)
- 4.U.S. Department of Justice (court record): Appellate brief, Nineteenth Street Investments Inc. v. Robertson et al., Circuit Court of Jefferson County CV-07-633 et al. (2014)