A lawsuit related to a couple killed by a drunk driver in Seattle's Wedgewood neighborhood back in 2013 recently settled for $13 million. The lawsuit itself was filed against the city of Seattle by the couple's son, Dan Schulte, “whose wife and infant son was also injured in the crash.” Schulte decided to file his lawsuit against the city because he believed the city failed in “supervising people known for driving intoxicated.” The wrongful-death and personal injury lawsuit was settled in time to avoid a jury trial.Of the $13 million, the city of Seattle will pay $6.5 million to cover defense costs, “while excess insurance carriers are paying the remainder,” according to the city attorney’s office. But what happened, exactly? Well, back in 2013, Mark Mullan, a father and unemployed electrician “who struggled with substance abuse,” got behind the wheel of his car. It's important to note, however, that at the time of the accident, he was “under the supervision of Seattle Municipal Court because of a previous drunken-driving arrest.”Shortly after getting into his car while intoxicated, Mullan mowed Dan Schulte and his family down as they were crossing Northeast 75th Street. When law enforcement and emergency personnel arrived on the scene, Mullan “failed field sobriety tests and had a preliminary breath-alcohol level of 0.22 percent, nearly three times the state’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.” In addition, it was discovered that he failed to "install a court-ordered interlock device” that may have helped prevent the fatal accident.

A law enforcement grade Breathalyzer; image courtesy of Agência Brasil via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org

Because of this, Schulte argued in the lawsuit Mullan's “probation officer was negligent, and that if he had been subject to closer alcohol-monitoring supervision, he would not have been able to get behind the wheel.” At the very least Schulte argued that Mullan should have been behind bars “for previous probation violations.”When commenting on the settlement, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office, Dan Nolte, said:“This case presents a profound human tragedy that no family should have to endure. Although the city is confident that its probation counselors acted appropriately in supervising Mark Mullan, this case presented a significant risk to the city.”When the fatal accident occurred that claimed the lives of Schulte's parents, Mullan was already on probation for a December 2012 DUI charge. In that particular case, he “twice slammed his pickup into a motel on Aurora Avenue North and was so drunk he couldn’t stand without the help of Seattle police officers.” After that incident, he was ordered by the court to refrain from drinking and was told to “install the interlock device inside his black Chevy Silverado pickup,” which he failed to do. Prior to that incident, he had been previously arrested “at least five times in Washington for driving under the influence before killing anyone.”In addition to suing the city, Schulte's lawsuit also named Mullan. However, early on in the case Mullan plead guilty to “two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault and violating the state’s ignition-interlock law” and was sentenced to “a nearly 18-year prison sentence for the fatal crash,” according to court documents.

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City of Seattle and family of relatives killed by repeat drunken driver settle lawsuit for $13 millionFamily, Seattle settle lawsuit for $13 million over deadly DUI crash