Tragic accident or gross negligence?

Thursday, January 25, 2007

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Mac Brown and son, Darnell, appeared at the trial Tuesday.

In May 2005, a Bay area woman was killed at a car wash while trying to save her baby from an oncoming car.

Now, the family of that woman is suing the car wash owners in a civil trial.

Mac Brown brought his son, Darnell, into the courtroom Tuesday to meet jury members and the judge before the proceedings began.

The boy was in a stroller with his mother, Brenda Brown, when she was killed.

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A surveillance video shows Brown pushing the stroller at the Town 'n' Country Car Wash on Hillsborough Avenue. An SUV suddenly takes off, hitting Brown and leaving tire tracks in its wake. Brown died two days later.

Authorities said the worker wiping down the interior of the SUV accidentally put the gear shift into drive and hit the accelerator instead of the brakes when the car moved. During opening statements, Brown family attorney Steve Yerrid told the jury the worker from Jamaica did not have a license to drive.

"He never drove a car in his life," Yerrid said. "He didn't drive a car in Jamaica. He didn't drive a car in Florida. He wasn't able to drive a car. He didn't know which was the brake and which was the gas."

Yerrid said the incident showed gross negligence on the part of the car wash owners. But defense attorney Joe Metzger told the jury the worker, Denzel Blake, did not need a driver's license to do his work inside the car.

Brenda Brown

"Was Mr. Blake in the car to drive the car? Or was he in it to wipe it down? The testimony will show he was in there to wipe the car down," Metzger said.

Metzger told the jury it was simply a tragic accident. It will be up to the jury to decide how much money can compensate for it.

Because the owners of the car wash have admitted liability in the case, compensatory damages are almost certain to be awarded. Punitive damages will be argued in the second phase of the trial.

Attorneys will not discuss how much money is being sought in the case. Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning.

The trial is expected to wrap up by the end of the week. No criminal charges have been filed in the case.