Help sought to track down where accused drunken driver drank
»Play Video
PORTLAND, Ore. – A severely injured woman is suing the accused drunken driver who ran her down and killed her friend, and the woman’s lawyer is making a public appeal for help in their $3 million lawsuit.
Brandi Butner's lawyer, Scott Kocher, also wants to sue the bars he believes served the driver too much alcohol.
There's a hang-up, though. They don't know which bar or bars served the man alcohol before investigators say he ran a red light right at Northwest 5th and Everett in January and then smashed his truck into a taxi before veering into the two women on the sidewalk.
Kocher has a short window to figure it out. Since Butner survived the crash, Oregon law only gives her lawyer 180 days to file a lawsuit against whoever served the man.
On Jan 20, Butner and her friend, Rebecca Bray, were waiting for a designated driver to pick them up when Portland police say Brent Warstler ran them down. Bray died and Butner is still in a rehabilitation center while family cares for her 7-month-old son.
"We're asking people who know where Brent Warstler was drinking to come forward at this time," said Kocher. "We have reached out to a number of people, folks who haven't talked to us yet, and we're asking for them to talk to us now."
According to court records, Warstler's girlfriend was in the truck as well as two other friends.
Under Oregon law, a bar can be held liable for over serving a customer.
ORS 471.565 says the bar is "not liable for damages caused by intoxicated patrons ... unless (there's) clear and convincing evidence that the (bar) ... served ... alcoholic beverages ... while the patron ... was visibly intoxicated."
Families have succeeded in court with these kinds of lawsuits.
Three years ago the Shaddix family filed a lawsuit after their daughter, Krissy, and her friend were killed by a drunken driver. They settled for $1.3 million against the former owners of New Golden Star, a Gresham lounge, which was accused of over serving the driver who killed the young women.
This kind of lawsuit has been allowed for a long time. The law that says a person can sue a bar or restaurant for over serving has been on the books since 1979.
There's another lawsuit going on right now accusing a gas station in Sandy of selling an already intoxicated man alcohol before he got behind the wheel and killed another driver on Highway 26.
It's not the bar's fault??
Because after the fifth round who doesn't make rational decisions... right???
Why they feel 10 feet tall and indestructible...
Here's an idea, subpeona his credit card statement, and view any transactions listed for bars on that date. Sounds simple to me.
No offense but I don't see the bar coming forward to get involved with this. This guy should just tell them what bar he was at - It's not like he would have to pay - The bar would right?
Who sold the liquor to the bar in the first place? Now there's some deep pockets! Good luck with that one.
The driver is solely responsible for his actions. No one forced him to drink, no one forced him to drive. This isn't about holding him responsible, it's about money. That's why they always go up the food chain until they can find the pot of gold.
@Owt_Raged True, no one forced him, but bars are not supposed to continue to serve someone who is already visibly intoxicated. I'm sure it may be difficult to prove after the fact, but if it can be proven, then I think they should have to pay up. Incentive to maybe watch a little closer in the future, and maybe save a life.
@sisabdpdx so people don't have to be responsible for their choices anymore as long as you can blame someone else for not making the choice for him? That's a very poor law.
That is wrong. If an adult can't be held responsible for his own actions and choices, our society is lost.
@Owt_Raged @sisabdpdx @Owt_Raged
You know, I'm going to change my tune a little....I just read al_02's post and he made alot of good points. So, I won't completely retract what I just wrote above....if it can be proven they knowingly overserved someone, there should be some consequesnces, but bartenders have alot to keep track of, and if someone else is buying the drinks, they don't necessarily see face to face who is drinking. Just so sad when someones careless mistake kills or injures someone. People should take responsibility for their own actions. Take a cab people!
sue the bars, the city for having roads, the stop light company, sue gravity, sue the tire compant, sue the car comapny , sue the metal manufacturer.......
I bet if I tortured him he'd tell. Â Come one, give me three minutes with the guy. I'll only need one.Â
Sue every bar  that's the ticket  Â
How about no? Servers get fired for calling the cops, servers get sued for not calling the cops. Anyone who works within the grasp of OLCC is crazy.
OK, sure. Sounds like a great law-if a bartender serves someone who is obviously drunk, they can be held liable.
But having been a bartender, I can assure you it is not quite that easy. A couple points:
1. Many people, especially frequent bar patrons, can look perfectly sober but be legally drunk. Remember, the bar-tender sees them across a bar, maybe only for a few seconds, in a dark noisy room.Â
2. Cutting someone off almost guarantees a fight or bad scene. Probably gets you fired. Also, bartenders have no special power of arrest or detention. They can offer to call a cab, but what to do if that offer is refused?
3. Often a bartender doesn't directly serve a customer. Someone may buy a round for a few people, or put a pitcher of beer on a table.
4. Just because someone drinks at bar X doesn't mean he got drunk there. He may have had 6 beers before he showed up, or had six more somewhere else after he left, or had a few in his car in the parking lot.
So what to do? I honestly don't know. Outlaw bars? We tried that. Have a 4-drink maximum? Probably unenforceable, and might even encourage more driving. Maybe the solution is to put the blame, and the liability, right where it belongs-on the driver. And maybe his drinking buddies. Not a lot of people drink alone, and your buddies, assuming they are sober, know better than any stranger if you over the limit.
@al_02 My husband was a bartender for 23 years, and frankly I gotta say that if you have a problem standing up and cutting a patron off who's obviously drunk, you shouldn't be one. I have seen him stand up to bar owners several times, owners that didn't want the customers cut off. Never once was he fired for this- he simply stood his ground and implemented logic.
I will agree with other parts of your statement though, which is that it isn't always blatantly obvious when someone is getting drunk. Some people have a VERY fine line between drunk and sober. One of his biggest issues was people who would drink and be fine, and then suddenly blitzed either because they went outside and smoked some weed, or maybe popped a Vicoden or something like that which caused them to suddenly go over the edge.
But he had zero problems cutting people off, taking keys, dealing with people who were angry with being cut off. He did not care if they got angry, he did not want a 10k fine and to loose his OLCC card. I suppose much of that might have been that after being in the business for so long, you simply don't tolerate crap from drunks. It's your job.
@WhenCowsAttackI was not afraid to cut anyone off-but it almost always created trouble. It usually wasn't even the drunk, but his drinking buddies that wanted to make a scene or try to get in a fight. And even when you cut somebody off, someone else was usually willing to buy him drinks. In a busy bar, it is just about impossible to keep an eye on who does what with a drink after you serve it.
Taking keys? Your husband is a braver man than I am. At the very least you are going to get in a shouting or shoving match, and maybe take a punch or two. And given how law enforcement seems to work, I' wouldn't be surprised if the bartender ended up in jail for assault or grand-theft auto. And if the drunk is a female (who are usually the worst), and a male bartender touches her, she'll scream bloody murder and probably get the bartender arrested.
And all of this presupposes that the bartender even knows someone is drunk. Sure, the guy falling off the barstool and slurring his words is obvious. But people with a BAC of 0.08%% may look stone sober.
@al_02Â I drank to much blame the bartender, I spilt hot coffee in my crotch blame McDonalds, I killed people with a gun, blame guns, I ran over somebody blame henry ford
every bar overserves daily. FACT  I speak from experience.  im a test drinker for the licker commishum.
@Pers Retiree Want be over served go to the chineese owned bars
@Bert yup they do tend to make a stiff one.    and an hour later your still drunk! (lame attempt which will go unedited, which was an attempt at tying the old "eat chinese and an hour later your hungry thing) im sorry
Will people starting to sell liquor stores for selling alcohol, or cars that start even though the driver is drunk? Â It's the drunk person's fault. Â Take away everything he/she has, house, money, everything. Â It is personal responsibility. Â But we should also award any servers who detect a junkie drunk customer. Â
@KATUNews why does that matter?
@karlajoaquinjoe Nothing matters
How do they know he was drinking in a bar? Could have drank at home.
@Riff Raff Here you go, clouding the issue with fact!!Â
When I was a LEO we used a standard interview form for DUII drivers, and one of the many questions was "Where were you drinking?" You'd think this information would be available in the police report, particularly since it's a death investigation, unless of course the DUII driver was uncooperative and refused to provide the information. And if he's uncooperative, it begs the question, WHY WAS HE ALLOWED OUT ON BAIL?
@StealthActivist I loved your work!  i love "take it on the run" and "roll with the changes"  and of course "she doesnt like the tough guys"  thanks!  yup good old LEO Speedwagon !
@StealthActivist I had no idea you were a LEO, and now I know. Too many years as a deputy sheriff> marshal>deputy sheriff and I just about saw it all and definitely done it all, SIR and you are spot-on with your summation!!
Most of the clubs in old town on a weekend night are filled with intoxicated people.
This comment has been deleted
Banned alcohol made Al Capone rich
This comment has been deleted
@feral Like joseph kennedy? and Capone did make money. Funny Chicago is now in the white house and the Illinois gov is in jail or supposed to be. Jackson jr let obamas seat open up again
Sharia law will take care of the problem without lawsuits and get rid of lawyers.
@Bert Along with all of us Infidels...
A know a guy that can easily drink all night and not seem "visibly intoxicated" although he clearly is.
@trololol Pat can I buy an I
It is wrong in so many ways for a bartender to serve anyone that is obviously intoxicated.
Extend the length of time to filed suit might help locate the bars that over serve, the other is to name Warstler and John Doe's 1-12 and then name them as they are identified.
Subpoena Warstler's debit/credit card charges, cell phone records something will turn up, talk to friends/coworkers to see where he hangs out.
They absolutely should not help the lawyers find the bar that served him the last drink. It is insane to hold a bar responsible, you can only make a 2 second judgement about the impairment of someone, and it doesn't mean they aren't going to buy some more booze from 7-11 or otherwise after they leave anyways. The driver is responsible for what happened, nobody else. Time for Oregon to change this law.
@SR The problem with this is that each and every employee that is a bartender or an alcohol server has to take a test in order to get their license. The test includes signs of intoxication and the penalties for overserving. The penalties are stiff and it's made very very clear to the employees. IF the person WAS visibly intoxicated and the emplyees continued to serve them, they are in fact, and should be held partially liable. But they must be able to prove the "visible intoxication" part. The law makes sense and should stay. Drunks are not known to have the best of judgement, and employees are trained to recgonize and HOW to cut off drunks. If they are too cowardly to do so then they do bear some responsibility. Again I say *if*- sometimes it isn't that obvious, and the law should be applied fairly.
The guy was an adult and made his own decisions and should solely be responsible. Sad that his poor choices have shattered so many lives, including his own.
The law needs to be changed to give more time. Maybe from time of discovery which would give a lot of time.
I have no respect for anyone who serves alcohol to anyone who is clearly intoxicated and they need to pay the price.
@RalphCramden Yeah, but, all that's going to happen is that an insurance company is going to pay the claim the bar will probably have to change its name to something else.
Who's to say they didn't STOP serving him, and he went out and bought some '40s (okay, well, that's "serving") or just had his own bottle of Jack in his car?
Too many people blaming and suing everybody but the man who got behind the wheel, drove drunk, and killed somebody. THAT'S the guy who did it. If he was on a cell phone text messaging and not drunk, would we sue Samsung or Verizon? What if he was on Benadryl? Do you sue Walgreens?
@Playanekes Those are great suit ideas, thanks. Seriously though, some are that ludicrous.
@PlayanekesÂ
I certainly understand your point.
Alcohol is a real problem in the US and is costing us a lot of money in injuries, investigations, incarceration, lawyers, not to mention the pain of those involved. And I haven't even gotten to DUIIs yet.
You are correct that if he had his own bottle there isn't much anyone can do but those that serve alcohol know that they need to cut folks off when they appear very intoxicated. He could have been cut off and had someone else get him drinks for that matter.
Rec
Des did his job to the best of his ability just as you would have expected him to do if you were his client.  I doubt you know the man I do, he was/is a formidable opponent in the courtroom.
Yes he is a real credit to his profession, would you go to a doctor who botched your surgery? Think about it!
@Playanekes @FreerideNOT Des and his daughter, who last I heard, owns the firm.
@FreerideNOTÂ YEs, Des conall put more criminals back on the street than any attorney in Portland, a real credit to the profession.
Des started his law practice in 1957 well before I was born. He is quite elderly and is not as he was before due to age.
At one time he had quite a firm that had several attorneys in it.  Des was always honest from what I knew and did his best for his clients which of course is what we expect from our hired mouth piece.Â
@FreerideNOT Last I heard, he was the defender for that puke that broke into a retired Marine officer's house in Roseburg and shot him and his wife for a small handful of money.
Des Connall managed the plea bargain, and the guy got the death penalty. Not that he didn't deserve it, but, if DEATH is your plea bargain, you need a new lawyer.
Des Connall former Multnomah County DA. In his day he was the go to attorney for all that bothered you.
@RalphCramden @Playanekes Ralph: In Oregon that law came about because a guy was stabbed at a bar near 82nd and Foster in 1982.Â
In court, Des Connell--the victim's lawyer-demonstrated that the Sanctuary club on 181st and Glisan (now Albertson's) and the Red Baron at Troutdale Airport had served the attacker earlier, even though he was intoxicated, belligerent and brandishing a knife. He literally told the judge that he intended to kill some SOB that day, and swore to kill my uncle when he gets out.
He later escaped, and killed one of the others on his list, rammed a police car with a stolen Corvette, tried to take the police car, and I think that's when the got him. The Feds have him now for bank robbery, and he'll do a longer sentence.
The knife that he used to stab the victim was so long that he still has -exit- wounds in the front of his chest, and the knife sliced is radial nerve from his shoulder to his elbow.  When the guy escaped, the MCSD called the victim's household, who lived in the country, asked him if he had weapons and said to have them ready in case the guy got to him before they did. I was there when they called, and when--man, that was weird--suddenly the escape broke on all the news while to police were on the phone.Â