r&b singer brandy crashed her car months ago and a woman died,police said bandy was not on drugs or drunk she was on the highway the cars stopped but she didn't anyway how can the woman ex-husband,new husband,two kids,and her parents all sew bandy,not with one big lawsuit but each with different lawsuits. Why is this right? Brandy herself said she was speeding and got a ticket. I'm sorry from the lost of life,but it could happen to anyone speeding
2007-09-04 05:17:23 · 15 answers · asked by Sabrina B 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
agian I'm sorry for the lost of life.I just can't understand why do poeple try to get rich off of someone else hardwork? Or do it make the people that loose someone fill better to money? is it a replace?
2007-09-04 05:23:19 · update #1
Welcome to Litigation 101. When opportunistic fortune seekers see the slightest crack of opportunity to get into the deep pockets of a celebrity or large corporation, they start lining up. What is basically happening is they are all claiming a loss that was realized due to the wrongful death of the person that died in the accident. Sadly, our bleeding heart liberal society will put a panel of jurists that are poor to lower middle class that feel that the celebrities need to pay or they'll all settle out of court for "an undisclosed amount" to minimize the bad press. Brandy made a big mistake by admitting to speeding. That gave the money hounds a legal chain of causation. You have to realize that in a civil case, unlike a criminal case, there merely needs to be a preponderance of evidence to support the claim, not "beyond a reasonable doubt" and they don't need a unanimous jury, just a majority.
2007-09-04 05:31:56 · answer #1 · answered by Jim 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Civil law is totally different than criminal law. To file a civil suit all one needs to do is prove the other person caused the loss or was negligant...and the speeding ticket covers that. So while she wasn't charged criminally, she can be held civilly responsible for the loss of the woman's life, the financial hardships it may cost her family and the emotional pain and suffering of her untimely death. If her kids are minors, my bet is one of the adult suits is in thier names for the loss of a parent and the loss of the finacial support she provided. If they are adults, they can sue individually for the same reasons. Her spouse and parents could sue on emotional loss. While most families would ban together and file one, large suit if there is discord in the family (hence the ex) or they are suing for different reasons, the law allows each of them to file. It will be up to the courts to decide which filing, if any, willproceed to trial. At the very least, the ones for her children and current spouse would most likely go forward.
2007-09-04 12:59:37 · answer #2 · answered by Annie 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The woman who died was an innocent victim of Brandy's illegal actions. She died because Brandy was committing a crime (speeding) and failing to pay attention (negligence).
Now every member of her family that was affected by the death can sue Brandy for it. And I wouldn't be surprised that they are, as she didn't exactly get a huge punishment from the legal system over it, if she only got a ticket.
If someone killed your Mom, you'd want to make sure they understood how serious it was,right? Right.
2007-09-04 12:25:01 · answer #3 · answered by majenkies 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
These claims are brought under the "wrongful death" statute of the state. In the statute, there is an enumerated list of people who can sue Brandy. Clearly, all of these people were listed in the wrongful death statute. The ex-husband must either be suing on behalf of their children, or he had alimony payments comming from the wife.
Further, Brandy's insurance carrier will probably cover the bulk of the claims.
2007-09-04 12:40:07 · answer #4 · answered by the hump 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I agree with the first answer. She admits she was speeding thus she admits to liability. Also if you hit someone in the rear, speeding or not then you are at fault.
The law assumes that you must be in control of your vehicle at all times. If you are not, then you are at fault.
That this could happen to anyone does NOT matter.
As for the separate lawsuits, they each would have a separate claim. Thus each would be entitled to sue for differing reasons. I would guess that the deceased's current husband and her children would get the largest award amounts.
2007-09-04 12:24:19 · answer #5 · answered by Jeff Engr 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can see everyone you mentioned having a possible claim except for the ex husband. Now, if the kids are his and they are still minors, he can sue on their behalf, and maybe that's what's happening.
Anyone can sue anyone anytime for any reason. It does not mean that they will win though - although a wrongful death like this is plenty of good reason. My guess is there will be settlements all around before the case gets to trial.
2007-09-04 12:27:53 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sooo...you think if you kill somebody while speeding you should get off with a ticket? I would imagine the relatives of the woman she killed would be less than thrilled with that result...and yes, those injured by the negligent actions of another can all bring suit.
2007-09-04 12:23:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's a civil lawsuit for damages. Speeding is still breaking the law.
2007-09-04 12:21:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely they can all sue separately -- the reason for this is that each of them lost something special from their interaction(s) with the person who is now dead -- she could, however, petition the court for joinder of the claims -- which means that even though those people filed separately, the court can hear them all together . . . if the court approves the joinder.
2007-09-04 13:35:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She's getting sued because she caused another person's death by her negligence. "It could happen to anyone" isn't a defense.
The judge could, if Brandy's lawyer(s) ask for it, combine all the suits into one suit. (I think that's called "consolidating.") But since each person suing has (or is alleging) a different degree of loss, he might not agree to that.
(P.S. Please don't type "loose" when you mean "lose." They mean completely different things, and even sound different.)
2007-09-04 12:23:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋