Many of us are still getting over the fact that a 4-year-old girl who accidentally hit and injured a New York City woman with her bicycle can be sued for negligence.
Now a man serving a 10-year manslaughter sentence in a Connecticut prison is suing the parents of a 14-year-old he struck and killed, alleging negligence because they let him ride his bicycle in the street without a helmet.
The Associated Press tells us that the man was charged with recklessly passing another car at 83 mph in a 45 mph zone when his car struck Matthew Kenney in 2007. A jury convicted him in December 2008.
Handwritten countersuit
Since then, driver David Weaving, 48, has sued the Kenneys from jail in a handwritten lawsuit seeking $15,000.
The AP reported that he alleges in the lawsuit that he has suffered “great mental and emotional pain and suffering,” wrongful conviction and imprisonment, and the loss of his “capacity to carry on in life's activities.”
Weaving's lawsuit is a countersuit to one filed by Stephen and Joanne Kenney shortly after his conviction; they're seeking $15,000 in damages for his negligence.
They're also seeking permission from the state claims commissioner to sue the Department of Motor Vehicles because his driver's license had not been permanently revoked, in spite of five drunken driving charges. DMV has admitted it made a mistake.
Both sides
The AP spoke to Weaving's attorney in criminal matters, not this civil case. He can see the parent's side of issue, but also the motorist's:
“If you're driving down the street and your car makes contact with a pedestrian and you think it's the pedestrian's fault, you have to raise the issue.”
The state victim advocate, however, told the AP that it's offensive:
“It takes obviously a very unique individual to go after the family of a deceased child. I would say it's an unsound lawsuit.”
R.I.P. Matthew Kenney website at Facebook.com.
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