2. SELLING ALCOHOL TO MINORS: WORTH THE RISK? ERIC BYRON, ZAC ARMSTRONG, LAUREN DANIELS, ALISON KEMP, YOLANDA HALLS

3. KEY FIGURES Alex Jacobs- Alex is seventeen-years-old. He has been known to drink occasionally, but has never been known to be a violent person. Deanna Wells- Deanna Wells is Alex Jacobs’ girlfriend. In the past, Deanna has been known to drink and hangout with people who are known to get into trouble. After her friend was killed in a drunk driving accident, Deanna has changed her life around, has stopped drinking, and found new friends. Kirk Benton- Kirk is Deanna’s ex-boyfriend. He is known as a partier, drinker, and hangs out with Deanna’s old friends. When Deanna changed her life around, she broke up with him. Kirk and her old group of friends have never forgotten how she left them.

4. KEY FIGURES Lou Dempsey- Lou owns Lou’s Handy Mart and has sold alcohol to kids underage in the past. Eric Howe- Eric is eighteen-years-of age. He bought kegs of beer from Lou Dempsey before for parties. Alex Jacobs Kirk Benton Lou Dempsey

5. WHAT HAPPENED? One night in May around 8:00, Alex Jacobs left to pick up Deanna Wells. They planned on going to a movie. On the way to the movie, Alex decided to stop by a keg party that was going on. He knew Deanna would not want to go because her old friends and ex-boyfriend Kirk, would be there. Alex still decided to stop by for a minute to “show off” Deanna to everyone. Kirk had been picking at Alex ever since he started dating Deanna. This made Alex want to stop by the party even more to show Kirk he was not afraid to come to places he was at. While at the party, Kirk began to drink and pick at Alex. Alex began to drink beer after beer, and eventually became extremely drunk. Kirk and Alex began to fight with each other. Kirk was beating Alex very bad when Alex remembered he had his pocket knife. Alex took it out of his back pocket and stabbed Kirk in the back while he wasn’t paying attention.

6. WHAT HAPPENED? Kirk suffered from a collapsed lung causing him to miss two weeks of school and be hospitalized five days. His grades went down significantly and he could not work which resulted in him losing his job. Alex was charged with assault and did some time in jail along with counseling. Alex claimed he was acting in self defense and his parents believed him. They had never known Alex to act violent before and blamed it on his drinking. They demanded to know where the alcohol had come from and who purchased it. A tip was eventually received that Eric Howe had bought it at Lou’s Handy Mart from Lou Dempsey. The police did not follow up on the lead due to the large amount of time that had passed from the incident. Kirk’s parents were not satisfied with the investigation and wanted to bring the issue of selling alcohol to minors to the entire city. Kirk’s parents called Alex’s parents to inform them of their decision to sue Lou Dempsey for his role in the stabbing of their son.

7. AFFIDAVITS AND DEPOSITIONS Affidavit of John Bemann- Bemann was the first on the scene. Some kids told him Alex was acting in self defense, others said he wasn’t. Affidavit of Eric Howe- Eric said he bought to kegs of beer from Lou Dempsey that night. Affidavit of Maryann Pearl ( Alex’s Counselor)- Maryann said she does not consider Alex a violent person and that he also seems unaccustomed to drinking excessively. Affidavit of Paul Stone- Stone was at the party that night. Stone said everything was fine till Alex walked in and immediately started looking for a fight. He feels Alex planned the whole thing. Jerry Newman (Sheriff)- Newman said compliance checks for selling alcohol to people underage have been conducted on Lou’s store. Each check, Lou’s store has failed. Responsible beverage serving classes have been recommended to Lou, but he has never attended one.

8. AFFIDAVITS AND DEPOSITIONS Alex Jacob’s Deposition- Alex wanted to go to the party to show Deanna off to Kirk and to show him that he was not afraid to be somewhere he was while he was with Deanna. Alex did not plan on drinking at first but ended up having multiple beers. He started to feel drunk, but didn’t know what to do. Kirk walked over and started picking at him. He knew that if he left it would look like Kirk won. They began to fight and he knew he was losing badly. That’s when he remembered he had his knife and stabbed him. Alex said he had never drank that much so fast and had never hurt someone before. He blames what he did on being drunk.

9. AFFIDAVITS AND DEPOSITIONS Deposition of Kirk Benton- Kirk Benton was on his way to being drunk when Alex showed up. He said Alex was looking for a fight that night and knew he would fight back. Deposition of Deanna Wells- Deanna said that Kirk was well on his way to being drunk. She said that she knows Kirk and he probably had the first beer. She also said she didn’t know Alex to drink like that and that him wanting to go to this keg party was strange. Deanna says she doesn’t know of Alex ever getting into a fight, but knows that Kirk has been in a lot of them. Deanna feels that Alex wanted to stay to prove he was her boyfriend and that Kirk couldn’t do anything about it. Deposition of Lou Dempsey- Dempsey was aware that selling alcohol to someone underage is illegal. He says that what they do with the alcohol is not his concern.

10. APPLICABLE LAWS It is illegal for anyone who has a license to sell liquor to let anyone who is under the age of 21 on to their property. It is illegal for anyone under 21 to drink alcohol unless they are at home and have the permission of their parents or guardians. It is illegal for anyone under 21 to attempt to buy alcohol. It is illegal for anyone under 21 to possess alcohol unless they plan to drink at their home with their parents approval. If somebody suffers an injury by an intoxicated person, the person can sue the person who caused the intoxication based on an illegal sale of alcohol.

11. RELEVANT CASES Jones v. Anytown Raceway, Inc.- In order to sue someone for negligence, the defendant must prove that the plaintiff had a responsibility that he or she did not meet. As a result of this, he or she caused some kind of damage or injury to the plaintiff that can be compensated. Hacker v. Anytown American Legion No. 600- When someone who is intoxicated harms somebody after consuming alcohol purchased illegally, the seller of the alcohol is liable for resulting damages, if the alcohol contributed to the injury. Martinez v. Smith- If someone sells alcohol illegally and the purchaser becomes intoxicated and hurts someone, the seller is liable for the harm. Splett v. Wheeler- The alcohol seller is not responsible for an injury just because the person who bought the alcohol causes an injury to another person.

12. RELEVANT LAWS Holly v. Anytown Hotel- The defendant being sued, does not have to know about a specific way in which someone might be hurt, in order to be aware that there could be an accident. Lu v. Lopez- An accident is considered foreseeable if a person of ordinary intelligence could see that an accident is possible.

13. FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL Four drinks of alcohol can cause exaggerated feeling of anger, fear, and anxiety. This much alcohol can also cause a loss in concentration, problem-solving, and reason. Alcohol use often precedes violent events, and the amount of drinking is related to the severity of the subsequent violence. Alcohol is considered to be part of 20% to 30% of violent crimes. Victims of violent crimes are also very likely to be drinking at the time of the crime. One in four violent crimes report the offender had been drinking alcohol prior to committing the crime.

14. CONCLUSION Based on the facts, laws, and information given, Lou Dempsey should be held accountable. It is illegal to sell, give, or provide alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. It is also illegal to buy or attempt to buy alcohol under the age of 21. It is also clearly stated that if you sell alcohol illegally and an injury occurs due to that alcohol, the seller can be held liable. Lou was aware that these kids were underage and still sold the alcohol to Eric Howe for the party. If he had not provided the alcohol to Eric, the injuries and the damages that were caused could have been prevented.

15. SOURCES Google Images