Archive for vehicular manslaughter

Family of Man Hit by Truck Sues Driver

The family of a man hit by a truck driven by his fiancée is now suing the woman for wrongful death. Las Cruces resident Carlos Nevarez III was hit and killed in June 2013 when Annette Fuschini ran him over as he was walking along a sidewalk after getting out of her truck.

Nevarez, who turned 42 that day, and Fuschini, 39, were in the middle of an argument when Nevarez got out of the truck near a car wash. He started walking through landscaping gravel near a sidewalk when he was hit. Nevarez initially survived the crash but later died at a hospital in Las Cruces.

While Fuschini was initially charged with first-degree murder, she was eventually convicted of aggravated DWI and involuntary manslaughter. The nevarez-family-quotemanslaughter charge is a fourth-degree felony, and she was given three and a half years in prison.

Both Fuschini and Geico Indemnity Co., her insurance carrier, were named as defendants in the suit. Nevarez’s family filed the suit on June 10 in Las Cruces’ 3rd Judicial District Court. The lawsuit accuses Fuschini of careless and inattentive driving, failure to exercise due care, and failure to stop, claiming the crash was the direct result of her negligence. The suit also claims Nevarez’s family has endured personal suffering, anguish, and pain. The family requested that damages be determined by the court at the trial, which does not yet have a date.

The family’s attorney, John P. Cosentino, did not comment on the suit when requested, but he did file a notice in an attempt to delay the case because he was still waiting for Fuschini to respond. He has claimed he can’t find Fuschini, but Ashley Espinoza, a spokeswoman with the Department of Corrections, noted that Fuschini has been in regular contact with her probation officer after finishing her parole.

The two attorneys representing both Fuschini and Geico, John A. Frase and Steven L. Gonzales of Albuquerque, asked for the suit to be dismissed in a filing on August 25. The judge in the case, Marci E. Beyer, has not yet addressed the latest filing.

Uber Resolves New Year’s Eve Death Case

Uber, a taxi service that offers customers access to drivers via mobile phone, settled a lawsuit from a child’s death that occurred because of one of their drivers in San Francisco. One of the company’s driver’s hit a six-year-old girl who was walking through a crosswalk. They formed an agreement with the plaintiff, which was the child’s family.

uber-settlementUber gave the family an undisclosed amount of money for the girl’s death. This results in the company being able to avoid a trial in regards to the responsibility Uber has on its drivers. Papers filed with the Superior Court requested that the settlement be kept classified. They don’t want the family to be subject to financial abuse due to the sum.

On New Year’s Eve 2013, Anthony Liu (five years old) and Sofia (six years old) were crossing with their mother, Huan Hua Kuang. A driver of an SUV from Uber didn’t yield, and the family was just crossing Polk Street near the Civic Center. In addition to the vehicular manslaughter, the mother was also injured. She was hospitalized for several weeks. She even had to undergo eye surgery.

The driver of the SUV was 57-year-old, Union City Resident, Syed Muzzafar. He’s a contractor who no longer has the privilege to drive for Uber. His court date concerning the misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter is set for August 5th, as noted by his attorney John Hamasaki.

At the time of the accident, he was logged onto the company’s app, which goes by the name of the UberX app. He was waiting to receive a ride request at the time. When the incident occurred, he wasn’t providing services since he didn’t uber-3have any passengers in his vehicle at the time. The family’s attorneys disputed Uber not being responsible. They stated that Muzzafar’s conduct may have branched from dealing with the company’s phone-based interface. The company didn’t have insurance that covered the driver and the damage done.

The mother of Sofia stated that the death of her daughter forever changed their family and that they just want to move forward privately from this point on. Uber’s statement stated that their hearts go out to the Luis, and they hope the settlement will aid in them moving forward.