Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Herbst not liable in 311 Boyz case

A judge ruled Monday that Terrible Herbst Inc. could not be held liable for the actions of alleged 311 Boyz gang members simply because one of its gas stations sold one member beer the night of the July 2003 rock attack that left an 18-year-old with a crushed face.

District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez dismissed Terrible Herbst Inc. as a defendant in the civil lawsuit filed by Stephen Tanner Hansen against the company and more than a dozen alleged members of the 311 Boyz.

Gonzalez agreed with Terrible Herbst's attorney, Lew Brandon Jr., who argued that Nevada case law dating back to the 1960s is consistent in saying a tavern, casino or vendor is not liable for the actions of those who purchase alcohol from them.

"The individual whether drunk or sober is responsible for their own torts," Brandon said. "The sale is too remote."

Brandon said even as in the case of Hansen's civil suit where beer was sold to minor the seller is not held responsible under law.

Nevada is only one of nine states without what is known as dram shop laws.

Dram shop law refers to the liability of establishments arising out of the sale of alcohol to obviously intoxicated persons or minors who subsequently cause death or injury to third parties as a result of alcohol-related incidents.

Brandon Gallion, 17, who was given a year of house arrest and four years' probation for his part in the rock attack, has testified under oath that he regularly purchased beer from a Terrible Herbst gas station. Gallion said he didn't have a fake ID and was never asked for one during his countless beer purchases at the store.

Hansen's attorney Jerome Bowen acknowledged the history of Nevada law regarding dram shop laws, but argued the facts of this case required a different interpretation by Gonzalez.

Bowen argued because the beer bottles purchased from a Terrible Herbst gas station were thrown at the car Hansen was in during the rock attack and actual beer was poured on the vehicle making it hard for the driver to see, dram shop laws aren't the issue.

Bowen said the beer soaked windows in effect caused Craig Lefevere to hit T.J. Carter, the event almost all of the alleged 311 Boyz members cite as their reason for jumping a fence and trying to stop the truck from leaving.

"They (the alleged 311 Boyz members) physically used the product to cause my client's injuries," Bowen said.

More pre-trial motions in the civil suit are scheduled for April 4. A trial date for the matter has yet to be scheduled.

Hansen and his parents, Carma and Edward Mahn, filed the lawsuit in District Court on Dec. 30.

Joining Hansen as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are two friends of Hansen, Craig Lefevre and Joe Grill, and their parents. Lefevre and Grill were with Hansen the night of the attack.

All nine of the alleged 311 Boyz gang members who were charged criminally for the attack as well as their parents and guardians are named as defendants in the civil suit. Several other teens that were allegedly at the party the night of the rock attack are also named as defendants in the civil lawsuit.

The lawsuit also names as a defendant the teenager who threw the party and his father, who is believed to be the owner of the home where the party was held in the Summerlin neighborhood of Canyon Terrace.

District Judge Michael Cherry sentenced alleged 311 Boyz gang members Jeff Hart, 18-year-old Matthew Costello, Christopher Farley and 19-year-old Steven Gazlay to one year at the Clark County Detention Center, a year of house arrest and three more on probation.

Cherry sentenced alleged 311 Boyz member Dominic Harriman to pay a $2,000 and to stay out of trouble for a year. Harriman violated that order by being arrested twice in February and for having an outstanding warrant for a domestic battery charge.

Because Harriman violated the terms of his plea agreement by getting into trouble with the law, he now faces up to a year in prison for the charge of conspiracy to commit burglary he pleaded guilty to in connection with the rock attack.

Cherry is scheduled to sentence Harriman on April 5.

Since sentencing the alleged 311 Boyz members Cherry has granted Costello a release from his jail time. Costello is now serving one year under house arrest and then three years of probation. Ernest Aguilar, 17, was sentenced to probation.

Charges of attempted murder against Anthony Gallion, 16, were dismissed May 18. The only alleged member of the 311 Boyz to go to trial for attack on Hansen was 19-year-old Scott Morse. He was acquitted of all charges in June.

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