Miami-Dade Jury Awards $95 Million After Drunk Driver Overserved at a Miami Bar Kills Daughter and Catastrophically Injures Son

On December 13, 2015, 23-year-old Carmen Criales was driving her Honda Civic from Miami to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. She was catching a flight to New Jersey for medical school orientation at Rowan University the next day. Her mother, Elisa Diaz, and her brother, Bryan, rode with her. The drive never reached the airport.

Franklin Chavez, then 22, had been drinking at The Corner, a bar owned by Georgetown Partnership LLC in Miami. He left intoxicated, got behind the wheel, and drove the wrong way on Interstate 95 with his headlights off. Traveling at more than 70 mph, he hit the Criales vehicle head-on. Carmen was killed at the scene. Her brother suffered catastrophic brain and orthopedic injuries that left him unable to walk or speak and requiring around-the-clock care for the rest of his life. Their mother was injured but recovered. Chavez was convicted of DUI and sentenced to seven years in prison in 2017.

The civil case centered on Florida's dram shop statute, which allows liability against a bar when it serves alcohol to someone who is habitually addicted to alcohol or to a minor. Georgetown Partnership LLC, the owner of The Corner, did not appear at trial. Plaintiffs' counsel argued the bar had served Chavez to the point of visible intoxication before he drove. The jury found for the family on those grounds.

After a July 2022 trial, the jury awarded approximately $95 million in total damages. Roughly $59 million was allocated for the son's lifetime medical care, and the remainder went to the parents for the wrongful death of their daughter. The jury did not award punitive damages. VerdictSearch reported the award as among the largest motor-vehicle accident verdicts in Miami-Dade Circuit Court history and among the largest car-accident verdicts in Florida history. Legal commentators noted at the time that Florida's dram shop law is considered restrictive for plaintiffs, and that collection could be complicated by the LLC structure of the bar's ownership and standard liquor liability policy limits. No confirmed reduction or reversal on appeal has been reported as of the date of publication.