Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Parental Liability

Aired July 10, 2003 - 09:10   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a question, should the parents of a teenager accused of causing a fatal car wreck be legally responsible for the action of their 16-year-old daughter? Police say Wendy Jennings was driving the family's BMW at a very high speed when she lost control. That crash in march killed Jennings' passenger and the driver in an oncoming car, a 61-year-old woman. This morning, Georgia prosecutors plan to fire misdemeanor charges against Wendy's parents. Danny Porter, the Gwinnett County district attorney is now live with us back in Atlanta at the CNN Center.
Sir, thanks for your time this morning. Good morning to you.

I understand part of your case relies on the history, the driving history of Wendy. What is her alleged history behind the wheel? She is only 16. She has probably not had her license that long.

DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT COUNTY, GA. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's not necessarily driver history, it's the information that we received about her driving habits throughout the neighborhood that caused us to bring these charges.

HEMMER: What were those habit, then?

PORTER: Well, I can't go into the specifics of it, because it's part of an ongoing investigation, but we have information that neighbors complained to her parents about the way she drove through the neighborhood, and our position is that that put them on notice that they should have done something about the way she drove.

HEMMER: I don't want to underscore the seriousness of this collision. Two people are dead. Wendy, I believe, is still in rehab in another part of the country. Why is this critical for you to get their parents now on a misdemeanor charge?

PORTER: I don't know that it's critical. It seemed to me to be a pretty commonsense decision, is that our investigation revealed that the parents were put on notice about her driving habits,.and they were also pout notice about the condition of the car, and Georgia law provides that it's unlawful to allow someone to operate an unsafe motor vehicle or operate a motor vehicle in an unlawful manner. It seemed a pretty clear case to me.

HEMMER: Danny, has this been done before in Georgia?

PORTER: I'm not aware of it. I've never done it. We have charged parents with or adults with joining-type crimes, where they've been involved in cases that were vehicular homicides, for instance, providing alcohol to minors or providing the keys to an intoxicated individual.

HEMMER: I understand here -- a lot of people would say, anyway, you are trying to expand what some consider parental liability and the boundaries by which that is defined. How would you respond to that?

PORTER: I am not really trying to expand anything. I am trying to apply the law as I understand it for the facts of my particular case. I don't think this is a case where somebody walked out and said, gee, I need to replace the tires on my kid's car. It is a case where, in fact, Jacob Miller's parents asked the father of Wendy Jennings, when are you going to fix the car? Otherwise, we're not going to let Jacob ride in the car. It seems to me they were put on notice, they had choices to make, and they put their child out in a dangerous car, knowing that she drove dangerously, and I think there are consequences to that.

HEMMER: Danny Porter the D.A. in Gwinnette County, east of Atlanta, thank you for sharing your side of the story, sir

More legal perspective now. Back with Jeffrey Toobin in New York City to talk about this.

What's your take on this, Jeff?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think this is a novel use of this kind of law, but boy, the facts of this case, they're so awful, it does seem like if you're ever going to hold parents responsible, the combination of the bad condition of the car and the young woman's driving record, this is a case that I imagine a jury might respond very favorably to.

HEMMER: So you think he can win this case, then?

PORTER: Absolutely. I think he can. I don't obviously know all of the facts of the case, and we haven't heard from the defense. Remember, the purpose of this law is, say, if you own a rental car company and you know a car has a bad steering column or something and you rent it out anyway, you could be held criminally liable. What makes this a novel use of the law is that it's not just the physical condition of the car that's making the parents liable, it's the record and reputation of their daughter that makes the parents liable, potentially, under this law. That's something that I've never heard of being used before, but as the D.A. said, it does make a certain amount intuitive sense, that if you're on notice that the daughter is a dangerous, terrible driver, and you let her go out and she kills somebody, well, maybe the parents should have some responsibility.

HEMMER: You say it's awful. Indeed it is. Thanks, Jeff. Jeff Toobin, again, in New York. Danny Porter, the D.A. in the state of Georgia.

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




y



Aired July 10, 2003 - 09:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a question, should the parents of a teenager accused of causing a fatal car wreck be legally responsible for the action of their 16-year-old daughter? Police say Wendy Jennings was driving the family's BMW at a very high speed when she lost control. That crash in march killed Jennings' passenger and the driver in an oncoming car, a 61-year-old woman. This morning, Georgia prosecutors plan to fire misdemeanor charges against Wendy's parents. Danny Porter, the Gwinnett County district attorney is now live with us back in Atlanta at the CNN Center.
Sir, thanks for your time this morning. Good morning to you.

I understand part of your case relies on the history, the driving history of Wendy. What is her alleged history behind the wheel? She is only 16. She has probably not had her license that long.

DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT COUNTY, GA. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's not necessarily driver history, it's the information that we received about her driving habits throughout the neighborhood that caused us to bring these charges.

HEMMER: What were those habit, then?

PORTER: Well, I can't go into the specifics of it, because it's part of an ongoing investigation, but we have information that neighbors complained to her parents about the way she drove through the neighborhood, and our position is that that put them on notice that they should have done something about the way she drove.

HEMMER: I don't want to underscore the seriousness of this collision. Two people are dead. Wendy, I believe, is still in rehab in another part of the country. Why is this critical for you to get their parents now on a misdemeanor charge?

PORTER: I don't know that it's critical. It seemed to me to be a pretty commonsense decision, is that our investigation revealed that the parents were put on notice about her driving habits,.and they were also pout notice about the condition of the car, and Georgia law provides that it's unlawful to allow someone to operate an unsafe motor vehicle or operate a motor vehicle in an unlawful manner. It seemed a pretty clear case to me.

HEMMER: Danny, has this been done before in Georgia?

PORTER: I'm not aware of it. I've never done it. We have charged parents with or adults with joining-type crimes, where they've been involved in cases that were vehicular homicides, for instance, providing alcohol to minors or providing the keys to an intoxicated individual.

HEMMER: I understand here -- a lot of people would say, anyway, you are trying to expand what some consider parental liability and the boundaries by which that is defined. How would you respond to that?

PORTER: I am not really trying to expand anything. I am trying to apply the law as I understand it for the facts of my particular case. I don't think this is a case where somebody walked out and said, gee, I need to replace the tires on my kid's car. It is a case where, in fact, Jacob Miller's parents asked the father of Wendy Jennings, when are you going to fix the car? Otherwise, we're not going to let Jacob ride in the car. It seems to me they were put on notice, they had choices to make, and they put their child out in a dangerous car, knowing that she drove dangerously, and I think there are consequences to that.

HEMMER: Danny Porter the D.A. in Gwinnette County, east of Atlanta, thank you for sharing your side of the story, sir

More legal perspective now. Back with Jeffrey Toobin in New York City to talk about this.

What's your take on this, Jeff?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think this is a novel use of this kind of law, but boy, the facts of this case, they're so awful, it does seem like if you're ever going to hold parents responsible, the combination of the bad condition of the car and the young woman's driving record, this is a case that I imagine a jury might respond very favorably to.

HEMMER: So you think he can win this case, then?

PORTER: Absolutely. I think he can. I don't obviously know all of the facts of the case, and we haven't heard from the defense. Remember, the purpose of this law is, say, if you own a rental car company and you know a car has a bad steering column or something and you rent it out anyway, you could be held criminally liable. What makes this a novel use of the law is that it's not just the physical condition of the car that's making the parents liable, it's the record and reputation of their daughter that makes the parents liable, potentially, under this law. That's something that I've never heard of being used before, but as the D.A. said, it does make a certain amount intuitive sense, that if you're on notice that the daughter is a dangerous, terrible driver, and you let her go out and she kills somebody, well, maybe the parents should have some responsibility.

HEMMER: You say it's awful. Indeed it is. Thanks, Jeff. Jeff Toobin, again, in New York. Danny Porter, the D.A. in the state of Georgia.

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




y