TX Wrongful Death Lawsuit: Former Chief Justice, Wife Sued for Fatal DUI Crash

Austin, TX-- The former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and his wife have been accused in a wrongful death lawsuit of allowing teenagers to drink at their home, which led to a fatal single-vehicle accident in 2009, reports the Statesman.

The parents of the Audrey King, accuse Tom Phillips and Lyn Phillips of allowing their then 20-year-old son, Daniel, to throw drinking parties at their home, leading to a single-vehicle crash around 2 a.m., which left King dead. The lawsuit claims that the Phillips’ home was “well known in the Bastrop community as the location of frequent underage drinking parties.”

The lawsuit also stated “Audrey and three female friend had intended to spend the night at the Phillips home to avoid driving after drinking. But Lyn Phillips—awakened when the party grew loud—confronted the teens in her beer-can-strewn backyard and ordered everyone to leave, ‘even tough they had been drinking for hours and were clearly intoxicated.’”

“Mr. and Mrs. Phillips were home during the party and were well aware that minors were getting drunk in their backyard…The kids made no effort to conceal the beer or the fact that they were drinking," the lawsuit claimed.

But the Phillips’ deny the claims, stating “Neither Judge nor Mrs. Phillips served or provided alcohol to anyone on the night before the accident… Nor did they knowingly allow anyone to consume alcohol or to become intoxicated on their premises," stated their lawyer. The Phillips also maintained that they were not aware that Audrey and her friends drank alcohol at the party on March 30, 2009, or that teens regularly drank at their home.

The Kings also sued the owners of the Country Corner and the Beverage Barn, over accusations that the convenience stores sold beer to “obviously intoxicated” youths on the night of the fatal accident.

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified monetary damages.

Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Texas wrongful death lawyers.