A jury in Dallas County, Texas has awarded a million judgment against the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma by families of two women who died in a casino charter bus crash in 2013.
Alice Stanley, 83, and Paula Hahn, 69 were killed in the crash in North Texas. Their families sought damages in the accident in which three people died and several more were injured. The charter bus driver, an employee of the tribe, was accused of “”failing to maintain proper control” of the vehicle when the crash occurred on the President George Bush Turnpike.
Witnesses testified that the driver, Loyd Rieve, 68, was distracted when the tour organizer spoke to him shortly before he lost control of the vehicle.
One of the victims was ejected from the bus and then crushed under it. She survived for ten minutes while trying to free herself, only to die of asphyxiation.
Gambling is illegal in Texas, so many residents take charter buses across state lines.
According to an attorney for the Stanley family “To reach their verdict, jurors made a key finding that the Choctaw Nation retained the right to control the charter bus and its driver and thus bore responsibility for the safety of the casino’s passengers on the charter bus.”
The charter bus company filed for bankruptcy in 2014.
The judge still has to approve of the verdict. If that happens, the tribe plans to appeal.
The tribe’s lead counsel, Tom Fee, claims that the Cardinal Coach Line and one of the former drivers, not the tribe, are liable in the deaths. “The case should have never gone to the jury,” he told the Star-Telegram.
The plaintiffs maintain that the tribe was responsible for the “negligence” because although the driver and coach line were acting as agents of the tribe they were not properly trained or supervised.
The Choctaw Nation had offered a $25,000 settlement prior to the trial.
