Jan. 22, 2005 – Sports Drinking and Driving

The jury awarded $60 million in compensatory damages Tuesday and $75 million in punitive damages Wednesday to Ronald and Fazila Verni. Their 7-year-old daughter, Antonia, was paralyzed from the neck down in the crash and requires constant care.

The jury assessed the punitive damages against the team's concessionaire at Giants Stadium, Aramark Corp., and split the liability for the compensatory damages evenly between the company and the driver who caused the accident, David Lanzaro. He reportedly had a blood-alcohol level more than double the legal limit at the time of the accident and is serving a five-year jail sentence for vehicular assault. Philadelphia-based Aramark is appealing.

A judge previously dismissed the family's lawsuits against the NFL, the Giants and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

The Giants issued a written statement that said: "No words can express the sorrow we feel for what the Verni family has gone through. We believe that Aramark has the right alcohol policies in place and will take the necessary and appropriate steps to enforce those policies."

An NFL spokesman declined to comment to the Associated Press about the jury's decision, except to say that the league regularly reviews its policies and will continue to do so. The league prohibits beer sales after the third quarter of games. The Giants reportedly cut off beer sales at the beginning of the third quarter and the stadium prohibits customers from buying more than two beers at a time. But Lanzaro reportedly bought six beers at once by tipping his vendor $10.

Ronald Verni said of his daughter at a news conference following the jury's award: "Hopefully, she'll be able to get the care she needs and deserves. Hopefully she'll be able to enjoy some of the things she wouldn't have been able to enjoy." << back

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