Judge lets suit against bars over crash continue
Closing arguments in the wrongful death case pitting the children of a Darien couple killed by a drunken driver against the owners of a Naperville bar and Romeoville gentleman's club will begin Monday.
Attorneys for Naperville's White Tavern and Romeoville's Crazy Rock Lounge asked a judge Friday to dismiss the case. They claimed the plaintiffs had not proven either establishment had over-served 23-year-old Chicago resident Michael Heise in the hours leading up to the 1:15 a.m. Jan. 28, 2006, crash in Downers Grove that killed Heise and Doug and Margie Long of Darien.
DuPage Circuit Judge John Elsner refused the request.
"If a cup is full and you add to it, the cup overflows," Elsner said. "(Neither establishment has) to give him all the liquor that caused the intoxication."
Elsner also ruled that while witnesses may not recall seeing Heise drink any beer given to him, it's reasonable to assume that he drank it.
Toxicology results showed Heise had a blood-alcohol percentage between .169 percent and .204 percent. In criminal cases, the legal threshold is .08 percent, but there are no such standards in civil cases.
The four children of Doug and Margie Long testified about the impact of their parents' deaths at Friday's hearing.
The couple married in 1999. Each had a son and daughter from previous marriages. They had met while working together at a school and dated for 10 years before marrying. Doug Long was 60 when he died; his wife was 53.
"Doug was more a father to me than my own father," said Margie Long's son, Brian Wallace. "He was a great guy, and I don't think I could have picked a better person for my mother."
The attorney for Crazy Rock, Christian Chenoweth, called three witnesses Friday; two were employees of the club who testified they had no recollection of meeting or serving alcohol to Heise.
The third witness was Heise's co-worker, Bob Kortum, who testified he didn't believe Heise was drunk that evening and only saw him drink a beer and half of a rum and Coke over the course of eight hours together.
Long family attorney Anastasia Pavich suggested Kortum was too drunk himself to make an assessment of Heise's condition and got Kortum to admit he was "buzzed" himself when he gave Heise directions to the nearest Interstate about 12:20 a.m. the day of the crash.
The businesses are being sued under the state's dram shop liability act, which allows anyone injured, or the family of someone killed by a drunk driver, to seek limited damages against the owners of drinking establishments that served the alcohol.
The maximum liability amount changes every year and the damages cap in 2006 was $67,000, legal experts said. According to testimony Friday, it cost the family almost $40,000 to cover funeral expenses.