State high court rules for local family - 1day after drunk driving, cops gave man car back...

[The Straight Story]

COLUMBUS -- A Ross County family's lawsuit against three Circleville police officers appears to be headed to trial after a ruling this week by the Supreme Court of Ohio.

The court ruled 6-1 Thursday to uphold lower court rulings in the case of Diana Graves, acting on behalf of the estate of her 23-year-old daughter, Jillian.

Specifically, the justices found the three officers -- Peter Shaw, William Eversole and Ben Carpenter -- could not use the public duty rule as a defense in the case.

The public duty rule essentially holds that a municipality cannot be held liable for injuries resulting from an employee's breach of duty to the public as a whole.
...

Graves filed the wrongful death suit after the July 6, 2003, death of her daughter in a head-on, drunken driving crash on U.S. 23. The driver, Cornelius Copley, was arrested for drunken driving a couple days earlier on July 4, but his car was returned to him the next day by Circleville Police. Copley also died in the crash.

The estate claims the police knew Copley was a multiple drunken driving offender and should have impounded his car because they knew he also was driving under suspension.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20100130/NEWS01/1300301

[dsc]

1. Gee fancy this

It wasn't that long ago that a poster here claimed I was a nut for saying that police who did this could be liable. Humm.

[sam sarrha]

2. any crime including DUI should result in Forfeiture of the Vehicle, if a felony take their license

for 4 years, second offense for life... it really cuts the crime rate.. :hurts: :nopity: :spank: :rofl: