MOTOR VEHICLE

LEON CIRCUIT COURT

A jury awarded a young woman more than $30 million for a parlyzing injury suffered when she was struck by a drunken driver in a pickup truck while crossing a Tallahassee street at night.

Jacquelyn Faircloth, then 18, suffered a brain injury that left her unable to speak or walk. On Nov. 29, 2014, she consumed alcohol at a bar while using her regular identification. The driver who hit her was 20 and had been drinking at another bar. Faircloth's guardianship sued both bars. It alleged they willfully and unlawfully served Faircloth, a high school student, and the pickup driver, whose receipt showed purchases of 24 drinks in four hours. The bar that served Faircloth, Cantina 101, has closed and was not involved in the trial.

Main Street Entertainment Inc., the operator of the other bar, Potbelly's, admitted serving alcohol to the pickup driver, an employee who had finished his shift, but disputed whether he was intoxicated. The award totaled $30.8 million.

Case: Faircloth v. Cantina Tallahassee

Case No.: 2015 CA 002778

Plaintiffs attorneys: Donald M. Hinkle, Hinkle & Foran, Tallahassee; and Mark A. Avera, Avera & Smith. Gainesville

Defense attorneys: Michael J. Carney, Fort Lauderdale, and Brian E. Chojnowski, Tallahassee, Kubicki Draper