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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Court Clears Parents Who Provided Alcohol to Teens

(CN) - Parents who provided alcohol at their teenager's party are not liable for one of the teens getting hit by a car, the New York Appellate Division ruled.

Dennis and Debra Aveta hosted the party for their daughter, Danielle. Two other parents, Angie Westrack and Kaitlin Smiraldo, brought vodka and rum for the partygoers, who were 13 and 14 years old.

Some of the children left the party with the alcohol and drank in a nearby school. One of the boys, Bryan Redden, was hit by a car while walking home. He had a blood-alcohol level of .082.

Bryan's mother sued the four adults for tort damages and negligent supervision, as well as the town of Islip for failing to clear a wide enough path on the snowy roadway.

The appellate judges ruled that the case against the Avetas should have been dismissed.

"They did not provide their guests with alcohol," the judges wrote, "nor did it appear alcohol was consumed on their premises, and the accident itself occurred after Bryan had left their property."

The judges ruled that the town was not liable since it did not have constructive notice of the need to plow the snow any more than it did.

Westrack and Smiraldo were also cleared of liability for furnishing the alcohol.

"Bryan cannot recover damages from his own involuntary intoxication," the judges wrote. "(The law) provides a right of civil recovery against a person who knowingly provides alcohol to a minor, but only for people injured by the actions of the intoxicated minor."

Bryan's mother only succeeded in recovering money for her son's medical expenses.

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