The Haggard Law Firm’s client, John Doe Jr, was shot and killed while standing in line to enter a pop-up nightclub located within a banquet hall. He was survived by a six-year-old son.
The Defendant, XYZ Strip Mall, owned and operated a small strip mall in Southern Miami-Dade County. The strip mall was only operating for a few years and was only supposed to be open in the daytime hours. Its tenant list included a dental office, a preschool, and other low-crime-risk businesses. As a result, there was very little prior crime on-premises.
In 2019 the strip mall leased a storefront to Defendant ABC Banquet Hall to operate a daytime banquet hall at the premises. Late night hours, loud music, service of alcohol, and public events we’re all banned by the lease. At the time of entry into the lease, the strip mall did not perform due diligence into the background of the tenant. A basic Google search would have shown that the Banquet Hall threw late-night hookah and alcohol parties which were open to the public and they operated as a non-licensed, unregulated nightclub.
The innocent victim was standing in line when a shotgun-sprayed machine gun fired at the establishment and killed him. A lawsuit was filed against the strip mall and banquet hall on behalf of the decedent’s minor child.
$1 Million Policy Limit Settlement in Bar/Liquor Liability Case
The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte and co-counsel Michael Carmona of Friedland Carmona obtained a $1 Million policy limit settlement in a Miami-Dade County Bar/Liquor Liability Case or “dram shop” case (Florida Statutes § 768.125).
On August 10, 2020, Charilyn Martica Rodriguez went to work at Sandbar Sports Grill in Culter Bay, Florida. Like many prior occasions in the past, she consumed alcohol both during her shift and after her shift. Rodriguez became heavily intoxicated and was unable to make decisions for herself.
Tragically, she attempted to drive home and was killed when she crashed her car only miles from her house.
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Charilyn Martica Rodriguez
Echarte and Carmona argued the defendent knew Charilyn was a habitual alcoholic. Despite that knowledge, the Defendant allowed her to become intoxicated and drive home. There was a history of social media posts and text messages with a manager of the bar, which they argued made it obvious the victim had a drinking problem and that Defendant knew or should have known about it.
Echarte and Carmona sent a policy limit demand to the Defendant at the time the lawsuit was filed. The Defendant and their insurance carrier agreed to pay the policy limits of $1 Million to resolve the case due to the evidence gathered during the Plaintiff’s initial investigation.
The Haggard Law Firm’s Pedro Echarte
*Florida Statutes § 768.125 “Liability for injury or damage resulting from intoxication.—A person who sells or furnishes alcoholic beverages to a person of lawful drinking age shall not thereby become liable for injury or damage caused by or resulting from the intoxication of such person, except that a person who willfully and unlawfully sells or furnishes alcoholic beverages to a person who is not of lawful drinking age or who knowingly serves a person habitually addicted to the use of any or all alcoholic beverages may become liable for injury or damage caused by or resulting from the intoxication of such minor or person”
