Woodburn, KY — There were three teenagers who had to be taken to hospitals after a house party in rural Woodburn earlier in May due to alcohol-related injuries. The owners of the house, James and Stephanie Christian were eventually arrested for allegedly providing alcohol to the teens for their party.
According to what I’ve read in the news, this all happened on Sunday, May 31, when the police responded to a call about a party at the Christian’s Woodburn home. They found alcohol being consumed by underage teens, including one teen who had consumed so much that he was unresponsive and had to be rushed to a hospital.
Earlier that night, another teenager hurt their head in an accident influenced by the alcohol at the party. He was taken to a hospital by another teen at the party (allegedly at the behest of the Christians), but the hospital transferred the injured teen to a Bowling Green so they could get the proper care & medical treatment.
Another teen was taken home to his parent’s home, but was so intoxicated that he required hospitalization as well. According to the news, that teen had a BAC over 3X the legal amount for an adult.
The next Sunday, the police arrested the Christians for hosting the party and allowing underage teens to drink.
Commentary:
This kind of incident falls under the broad category of “Dram Shop Law,” and every state has a different way of regulating and enforcing responsible sale & service of alcohol. Specifically, “social host” ordinances or laws refer to when adults give alcohol to minors, as the host of a party, for example.
It’s my understanding that while many states hold adults civilly & criminally liable for serving alcohol to minors, Kentucky is not one of those states. There are criminal charges for adults that choose to break the law like that, but as far as civil claims go, there is no case to be made — it’s restricted by law.
In a lot of situations, people get drunk at someone’s house and then drive home, only to get into an accident and hurt themselves or another person. In a state where civil claims against social hosts are allowed, the injured party would be able to file a claim for their medical bills and things like that. The claim would be against the host of the party, typically defined as the homeowner.
— Grossman Law Offices
