Opinion ID: 1585869
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Party

Text: Each year for a number of years, the HHS Jr. Jaycees had held a big social event for the club members and their invited friends. Thus, at one of the last club meetings during the 1980-81 school year, the members discussed party plans. Someone suggested a place where the beer might be purchased, but Worley, who was present, stated that he could get the club a special deal. According to deposition testimony of Wes Neighbors, [Worley] said we could get it for nine dollars a case, so we decided on thirty cases of beer. On Friday, May 15, 1981, following the end of classes for the day, Neighbors drove with David Vest to the law office of Worley with a check drawn on the Huntsville High School Imprest Account and made payable to Wes Neighbors. Neighbors endorsed the check and gave it to Worley. He and David Vest then followed Worley to Turner Beverage Company. Worley also endorsed the check, and handed it to Tully Turner, owner of the beverage company. Half-cases of beer were loaded by the boys and employees of the beverage company into the trunks of Vest's and Worley's automobiles. Next, they proceeded to the residence of Worley, where they stored the beer on Worley's back porch. The following morning, Saturday, May 16, 1981, Neighbors and Vest returned to Worley's home. They loaded the beer into a pick-up truck and covered it with tarpaulins. After meeting fellow club members John Watts and George Mahoney, they transported the beer from Huntsville to the cabin on Guntersville Lake in Marshall County. When the four boys arrived at the Watts cabin, around noon, they iced the beer down in six coolers. John Watts had obtained these coolers from a building owned by the Jaycees. [1] Soon other HHS Jr. Jaycees and their guests began to arrive. During the early part of the afternoon, there was little or no control over access to the beer. Anyone could walk up to the coolers and help himself to as much as he desired. According to Neighbors, just about everybody who attended the party was pretty much intoxicated. He described the party as wild, a melee. Four young people passed out totally and had to be placed on beds in the Watts cabin. Many more were not capable of safely operating a motor vehicle. Adults present during the party were: Billy Neighbors, the father of Wes Neighbors; Richard Watts, owner of the cabin and father of club president John Watts; and David Worley, who attended the party in his capacity as club sponsor. Around 3:30 p.m., Billy Neighbors decided that things were getting out of hand; he and Richard Watts called a halt to the party. Richard Watts told the boys to load the beer back into the pick-up truck. Warren Bradford, age 18, was one of the boys who became intoxicated. Billy Neighbors told John Watts to remove the ignition keys from Bradford's vehicle. The keys were given to Bradford's companion, Mark Pullen, age 17. Pullen was told that he was to drive the vehicle back to Huntsville. Pullen and Bradford left around 4 or 4:30 p.m., with Pullen driving. After they left, Bradford demanded forcefully that Pullen let him drive the car. Pullen stopped the vehicle and the boys changed positions. Just after they had crested Monte Sano Mountain, and were on their way down into the city proper, moving to the [beat of the] music playing on the car's stereo, laughing, and in a good mood, Bradford lost control of the vehicle. It skidded across his two lanes, across a wide, grassy median separating the lanes of traffic, and into the path of plaintiffs' on-coming vehicle. Neither Pullen nor Bradford was injured very badly. However, the driver of the other car, Georgia L. Hazelrig, was killed. Her two daughters, Kerri Martin and April Hazelrig, were gravely injured.