(This story was updated to add new information and because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
Correction: This story was updated to indicate the correct legal representation for the plaintiffs.
Attorneys reached a settlement in a pair of lawsuits stemming from a crash caused by a wrong-way driver that killed two people on the old Harbor Bridge in 2022.
The case consisted of two lawsuits that Judge Lisa Gonzales had ordered to be consolidated in December 2023.
Police said Roxanne Palacios, 37, caused the three-vehicle crash on Nov. 2, 2022, by driving north in the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 181 and that she had “a strong odor of intoxicating beverage about her person” at the scene of the crash. Mathew Banda, 27, and his passenger, Betsy Mandujano, 37, were killed.
In April this year, Palacios pleaded guilty to two charges of intoxication manslaughter and one charge of intoxication assault and was sentenced to seven years in prison for each count, to be served concurrently.
Mathew Banda’s widow, Christina Banda, sought $1 million in damages for the death of her husband, a U.S. Navy veteran from Sinton, and for the subsequent mental anguish and funeral and medical expenses, according to the lawsuit.
Janell Donaho, the driver of a third vehicle involved in the crash, also sought $1 million in damages from Palacios’ employer, Flatiron/Dragados, a joint venture overseeing the Harbor Bridge Replacement Project, and the downtown restaurant Palacios visited before the evening crash, Railroad Seafood & Brewing Co. Donaho retained the Thomas J. Henry law firm.
The terms of the settlement were not immediately available on July 28.
In lieu of a jury trial scheduled for July 28 in the Nueces County Court at Law No. 2, the lawyers representing the plaintiffs spoke to jurors and members of the public at the Nueces County Courthouse about the outcome of the case.
“The parents of Mathew Banda are pleased to get this behind them and move on with their lives and honor the memory of their son,” said Reagan Sahadi, an attorney from the law firm Sahadi Legal Group. Sahadi represented Mathew Banda’s parents, Frank and Dannette Banda, who were intervenors in Christina Banda’s lawsuit. “It’s been a long several years to get this concluded. They’re happy that they can try to move on and love on their granddaughter and move on with their lives.”
Lawyers for Palacios listed in Nueces County records did not respond to requests for comment.
Lynn Allison, a spokesperson for Flatiron/Dragados, told the Caller-Times that the firm does not comment on legal matters.
According to an arrest affidavit for Palacios, Mathew Banda was driving a vehicle south on the correct side of U.S. 181 with Mandujano, a communications operator for the San Patricio County Sheriff’s Office, riding as a passenger when Palacios collided with them in her vehicle.
Donaho had been driving on the correct side of the bridge highway, according to the affidavit. She survived the crash but suffered a severe fractured lower leg injury.
The evening of the crash, Palacios was drinking at a company-sponsored event at the restaurant, celebrating news that one of the design disputes that had paused the new Harbor Bridge project had been resolved, according to Donaho’s lawsuit. Flatiron/Dragados provided alcoholic beverage vouchers to employees for this gathering, the lawsuit contends.
According to an amendment to the plaintiff’s original petition, Flatiron/Dragados, where Palacios worked as a DBE manager, asked her to attend the event along with other administrative employees.
Both Flatiron/Dragados and Railroad Seafood & Brewing Co. witnessed Palacios in an “obviously heavily intoxicated” state but did not appropriately intervene to prevent her from driving and later causing the fatal crash, according to the lawsuit.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the state agency that handles licensure for businesses to serve alcoholic beverages, continues to investigate the restaurant to determine whether it violated the law.
The TABC case is open and in the administrative hearing process, with both the commission and the business gathering further information and evidence that is relevant to the case, said Chris Porter, a spokesperson for the commission, on July 28.
If the hearings reveal sufficient evidence that Railroad Seafood & Brewing Co. sold alcohol to an intoxicated person, it could result in a temporary suspension of the business’ permit or a civil fine, he said.
If the court finds a pattern of repeated violations or an egregious violation, the commission could cancel the business permit, Porter said.
A settlement could be reached, though it might take months or years, he said.
A general manager for the restaurant said July 28 that she had no comment on the outcome of the lawsuit.
“In a case like this, there are no winners — there’s a resolution,” said attorney Matt Manning of the law firm Webb, Cason and Manning, who represented Christina Banda. “Thankfully, that resolution does as much as it can to provide some element of recompense for the loss, but money is never enough to have your loved one back.
“This is one of those tragic situations where, thankfully, it worked out as much as it could,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Settlement reached in suits stemming from 2022 wrong-way fatal crash on old Harbor Bridge
Reporting by Katie Nickas, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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