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American Morning

Lawsuit Targets NFL

Aired October 13, 2003 - 08:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Little Antonia Verni of New Jersey is paralyzed from the neck down and her parents claim that the National Football League is partly responsible for the crash that left her that way. The family was headed home from a pumpkin picking trip four years ago when their car was hit by a truck. The driver of that truck had just left a New York Giants game and his blood alcohol limit was nearly two and a half times the legal limit in New Jersey. The Vernis are suing the NFL and the Giants and others.
The question now, should the league or a team be held responsible for fans who drink and drive?

And joining us this morning from Cliffside Park, New Jersey, is Ronald Verni and his wife Fazila and their daughter Antonia, who is now six years old.

Also joining us this morning, Attorneys Christian Stueben and Rosemarie Arnold. They are representing the Vernis in this case.

Good morning to all of you.

Thanks for joining us.

And this morning, I really want to start with Ronald, to give me a sense of that day four years ago. You had gone pumpkin picking, to take your daughter, who was just two years old, out. You were returning. What happened?

RONALD VERNI, ANTONIA'S FATHER: Yes, on the way home we were in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, which is about five minutes away from Giants Stadium. And we were hit head on by a Ford pickup truck that had swerved over the double lane up on the sidewalk, hit one car and then collided head on with us.

O'BRIEN: Fazila, you were injured in the crash, as well, and have recovered. Your daughter, as we mentioned, is paralyzed from the neck down.

Describe for me what goes into her care every single day.

FAZILA VERNI, ANTONIA'S MOTHER: Every single day you have to suction her. You have to catheter her. You have to give her a bath and you have to help her with her spasm. Every two minutes, you have to lift her hand and she cries. She hits her head, her eyes. Everything you have to do for her.

O'BRIEN: A tremendous amount of work. Ron, a man named Daniel Lanzaro, who was the driver, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. But you've expanded the lawsuit.

Can you give me a sense of why?

RONALD VERNI: Well, he was just sentenced, I believe, in August. And that's why the NFL wasn't included to the -- in the lawsuit up until that point in time. And then my attorneys, after disposing and talking to Mr. Lanzaro in prison, they became aware of a few things that were rather shocking to us. And that's essentially it, that we feel that the NFL is essentially responsible and we feel that they're not above the law.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn to Christian Stueben then, who, as we mentioned, is one of your attorneys here. What were some of these things that were shocking to you then?

CHRISTIAN STUEBEN, VERNIS' ATTORNEY: Well, Mr. Lanzaro testified in prison at his deposition that the day of the incident, he had gone to Giants Stadium early for his own tailgate party and he consumed three cans of beer at the tailgate party.

He then walked into the stadium. At the time, stadium policy was that only two beers per customer were served. He always had two beers. He was drunk by half time. He purchased marijuana there in addition to purchasing alcohol there. He said at half time 30 or 40 men, young men were smoking marijuana. He was so drunk he wanted to smoke it, too. The second person he asked sold it to him.

Then he went to a beer concessionaire, duped the seller of the beer 10 bucks and instead of getting two beers, he got six, so he would have enough beer to drink after the cutoff time.

O'BRIEN: When I look at the list of the people, though, who are named as defendants in the suit -- Toyota, Enterprise Rental Cars, Aramark, the NFL, the Giants, the New Jersey Sports Authority, the list goes on and on and on.

Why do you think they have some kind of culpability when, at the end of the day, it was the driver who chose to drink, drank too much and was the one who caused this accident?

STUEBEN: You have to look at the whole picture. If Mr. Lanzaro or any guest at your party left in that drunken condition and had the same accident, you'd be responsible to the injured person. So by selling tickets to the game, the Giants and the NFL are inviting people like Mr. Lanzaro. And the demographics are such that it's a very, very dangerous group of individuals -- it's young male, high school graduates -- dangerous when it comes to the propensity to drink and drive.

Lastly, the Giants and the NFL know that throughout the country people don't walk to the stadium, they drive there. And they're going to drive home.

O'BRIEN: I want to...

STUEBEN: So when you look at the totality of the situation, they're responsible.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask a question of your colleague, Rosemarie Arnold. The NFL would say we do have an alcohol policy. In fact, the sales for alcohol end in the third quarter. In addition, the Giants actually have an even stricter alcohol policy. At the end of half time, they stop selling alcohol. They would say we're doing our best, as entities, to protect people, what more can we possibly do?

Why do you think that's not a good argument?

ROSEMARIE ARNOLD, VERNIS' ATTORNEY: Well, considering that the NFL right now does nothing to police the policy, they can do a lot more. That's why it's not a good argument, because you can have policies, but if you don't enforce them, they're no good. And the NFL does absolutely nothing. Last week we took the deposition of John Marra (ph) and he told us that the NFL has the authority to regulate almost everything that goes on at those games. And they don't regulate it.

As a matter of fact, their position on when you can stop serving alcohol at a game is much more lax than that of the Giants themselves. But, in fact, they know that people are not obeying the rules and they do nothing to enforce them.

O'BRIEN: I want to bring...

ARNOLD: Nor do they...

O'BRIEN: Forgive me for interrupting you, but I want to bring this back to Ronald and Fazila and, of course, little Antonia, who I think has been chatting through our entire interview. There she is.

RONALD VERNI: Antonia can answer any questions, also.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, so much of this is legalese that I'm not sure Antonia would be able to answer some of the legal issues. But I would like to give you the final word, Ronald.

RONALD VERNI: If you have any Blues Clues questions, she can answer those.

O'BRIEN: I've got a lot of Blues Clues -- I'm very familiar with that show, actually.

ANTONIA VERNI: Dad...

O'BRIEN: Hey, Antonia.

RONALD VERNI: OK, OK.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask your dad one final question, though. I know you're obviously very, very angry. At the end of the day, what do you want from all of this? RONALD VERNI: I think it's obvious, OK? The culture of this country is distorted in the wrong direction. My wife and I have tried for 12 years to have a beautiful baby like this and we're a certain age and when we're in our grave, we want to make sure that she's taken care of and that this doesn't happen to other families. And we don't...

ANTONIA VERNI: Dad, are you crying?

RONALD VERNI: Yes, I'm crying, Antonia. And that somebody's bottom line, I'm an accountant and I -- the Giants Stadium, they were my client 25 years ago. And I looked at their revenue statement. I know how much they appreciated alcohol sales. I worked for Touche Ross (ph) and I audited this client. I'm very familiar with their income statements.

O'BRIEN: Very emotional.

I want to thank you so much for talking to us.

Antonia, you are a lovely and beautiful little girl. But I'd love to chat with you about Blues Clues at another time.

Thank you for joining us and to your mom and dad, as well, Ronald Verni and Fazila Verni. I certainly appreciate your time.

Also, Christian Stueben and Rosemarie Arnold, the attorneys in this case, I thank you for talking with us, as well.

STUEBEN: Thank you, Soledad.

ARNOLD: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's tell you, though, that the NFL issued this statement. It goes like this, "At this point we have not seen the complaint, so we are not in a position to comment. We will deal with it in court." And this comes from an attorney who's representing the Giants and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. It's an unbelievably sad case. They say the Giants have no legal responsibility, they did nothing wrong and neither did the Sports Authority.

Of course, all of this will be answered in court.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 13, 2003 - 08:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Little Antonia Verni of New Jersey is paralyzed from the neck down and her parents claim that the National Football League is partly responsible for the crash that left her that way. The family was headed home from a pumpkin picking trip four years ago when their car was hit by a truck. The driver of that truck had just left a New York Giants game and his blood alcohol limit was nearly two and a half times the legal limit in New Jersey. The Vernis are suing the NFL and the Giants and others.
The question now, should the league or a team be held responsible for fans who drink and drive?

And joining us this morning from Cliffside Park, New Jersey, is Ronald Verni and his wife Fazila and their daughter Antonia, who is now six years old.

Also joining us this morning, Attorneys Christian Stueben and Rosemarie Arnold. They are representing the Vernis in this case.

Good morning to all of you.

Thanks for joining us.

And this morning, I really want to start with Ronald, to give me a sense of that day four years ago. You had gone pumpkin picking, to take your daughter, who was just two years old, out. You were returning. What happened?

RONALD VERNI, ANTONIA'S FATHER: Yes, on the way home we were in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, which is about five minutes away from Giants Stadium. And we were hit head on by a Ford pickup truck that had swerved over the double lane up on the sidewalk, hit one car and then collided head on with us.

O'BRIEN: Fazila, you were injured in the crash, as well, and have recovered. Your daughter, as we mentioned, is paralyzed from the neck down.

Describe for me what goes into her care every single day.

FAZILA VERNI, ANTONIA'S MOTHER: Every single day you have to suction her. You have to catheter her. You have to give her a bath and you have to help her with her spasm. Every two minutes, you have to lift her hand and she cries. She hits her head, her eyes. Everything you have to do for her.

O'BRIEN: A tremendous amount of work. Ron, a man named Daniel Lanzaro, who was the driver, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. But you've expanded the lawsuit.

Can you give me a sense of why?

RONALD VERNI: Well, he was just sentenced, I believe, in August. And that's why the NFL wasn't included to the -- in the lawsuit up until that point in time. And then my attorneys, after disposing and talking to Mr. Lanzaro in prison, they became aware of a few things that were rather shocking to us. And that's essentially it, that we feel that the NFL is essentially responsible and we feel that they're not above the law.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn to Christian Stueben then, who, as we mentioned, is one of your attorneys here. What were some of these things that were shocking to you then?

CHRISTIAN STUEBEN, VERNIS' ATTORNEY: Well, Mr. Lanzaro testified in prison at his deposition that the day of the incident, he had gone to Giants Stadium early for his own tailgate party and he consumed three cans of beer at the tailgate party.

He then walked into the stadium. At the time, stadium policy was that only two beers per customer were served. He always had two beers. He was drunk by half time. He purchased marijuana there in addition to purchasing alcohol there. He said at half time 30 or 40 men, young men were smoking marijuana. He was so drunk he wanted to smoke it, too. The second person he asked sold it to him.

Then he went to a beer concessionaire, duped the seller of the beer 10 bucks and instead of getting two beers, he got six, so he would have enough beer to drink after the cutoff time.

O'BRIEN: When I look at the list of the people, though, who are named as defendants in the suit -- Toyota, Enterprise Rental Cars, Aramark, the NFL, the Giants, the New Jersey Sports Authority, the list goes on and on and on.

Why do you think they have some kind of culpability when, at the end of the day, it was the driver who chose to drink, drank too much and was the one who caused this accident?

STUEBEN: You have to look at the whole picture. If Mr. Lanzaro or any guest at your party left in that drunken condition and had the same accident, you'd be responsible to the injured person. So by selling tickets to the game, the Giants and the NFL are inviting people like Mr. Lanzaro. And the demographics are such that it's a very, very dangerous group of individuals -- it's young male, high school graduates -- dangerous when it comes to the propensity to drink and drive.

Lastly, the Giants and the NFL know that throughout the country people don't walk to the stadium, they drive there. And they're going to drive home.

O'BRIEN: I want to...

STUEBEN: So when you look at the totality of the situation, they're responsible.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask a question of your colleague, Rosemarie Arnold. The NFL would say we do have an alcohol policy. In fact, the sales for alcohol end in the third quarter. In addition, the Giants actually have an even stricter alcohol policy. At the end of half time, they stop selling alcohol. They would say we're doing our best, as entities, to protect people, what more can we possibly do?

Why do you think that's not a good argument?

ROSEMARIE ARNOLD, VERNIS' ATTORNEY: Well, considering that the NFL right now does nothing to police the policy, they can do a lot more. That's why it's not a good argument, because you can have policies, but if you don't enforce them, they're no good. And the NFL does absolutely nothing. Last week we took the deposition of John Marra (ph) and he told us that the NFL has the authority to regulate almost everything that goes on at those games. And they don't regulate it.

As a matter of fact, their position on when you can stop serving alcohol at a game is much more lax than that of the Giants themselves. But, in fact, they know that people are not obeying the rules and they do nothing to enforce them.

O'BRIEN: I want to bring...

ARNOLD: Nor do they...

O'BRIEN: Forgive me for interrupting you, but I want to bring this back to Ronald and Fazila and, of course, little Antonia, who I think has been chatting through our entire interview. There she is.

RONALD VERNI: Antonia can answer any questions, also.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, so much of this is legalese that I'm not sure Antonia would be able to answer some of the legal issues. But I would like to give you the final word, Ronald.

RONALD VERNI: If you have any Blues Clues questions, she can answer those.

O'BRIEN: I've got a lot of Blues Clues -- I'm very familiar with that show, actually.

ANTONIA VERNI: Dad...

O'BRIEN: Hey, Antonia.

RONALD VERNI: OK, OK.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask your dad one final question, though. I know you're obviously very, very angry. At the end of the day, what do you want from all of this? RONALD VERNI: I think it's obvious, OK? The culture of this country is distorted in the wrong direction. My wife and I have tried for 12 years to have a beautiful baby like this and we're a certain age and when we're in our grave, we want to make sure that she's taken care of and that this doesn't happen to other families. And we don't...

ANTONIA VERNI: Dad, are you crying?

RONALD VERNI: Yes, I'm crying, Antonia. And that somebody's bottom line, I'm an accountant and I -- the Giants Stadium, they were my client 25 years ago. And I looked at their revenue statement. I know how much they appreciated alcohol sales. I worked for Touche Ross (ph) and I audited this client. I'm very familiar with their income statements.

O'BRIEN: Very emotional.

I want to thank you so much for talking to us.

Antonia, you are a lovely and beautiful little girl. But I'd love to chat with you about Blues Clues at another time.

Thank you for joining us and to your mom and dad, as well, Ronald Verni and Fazila Verni. I certainly appreciate your time.

Also, Christian Stueben and Rosemarie Arnold, the attorneys in this case, I thank you for talking with us, as well.

STUEBEN: Thank you, Soledad.

ARNOLD: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's tell you, though, that the NFL issued this statement. It goes like this, "At this point we have not seen the complaint, so we are not in a position to comment. We will deal with it in court." And this comes from an attorney who's representing the Giants and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. It's an unbelievably sad case. They say the Giants have no legal responsibility, they did nothing wrong and neither did the Sports Authority.

Of course, all of this will be answered in court.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com