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Can a bar be responsible for a murder that happened because of over-serving someone?
As 2021 was winding down, a person was shot to death in the early hours of the morning at a bar in Lewisville, Texas. We all know that alcohol and guns are a bad combination, but most people don’t realize that bars and restaurants can sometimes be held responsible if an obviously intoxicated person was over-served.
Since the incident just happened, more investigation is certainly warranted to determine if that bar could be held responsible. From the initial news reports, it looks like the incident happened around 2:00 a.m. – closing time for bars in Texas. It is often not a coincidence when bar violence happens at closing time. It could indicate that someone was being over-served for hours.
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Is it fair to sue a bar when someone is assaulted or killed?
There’s nothing wrong with going out and having some drinks, and there’s nothing wrong with bars serving people alcohol. But what many don’t realize is that bars still have responsibilities to the community. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (“TABC”) has many regulations about the safe service of alcohol. Some say there is too much regulation. But when you think about the bad things that can happen when people are over-served, it makes sense that bars and restaurants must do their part to protect the community. Just like it is an unlikely coincidence if someone is murdered at a bar near closing time, there’s no coincidence that the Texas Department of Transportation reports year after year that drunk driving crashes happen most often in the time between 2:00 a.m. and 2:59 a.m.
How do I know if I have a case against a bar or restaurant for over-serving someone?
These types of lawsuits take all sorts of forms. Very often we hear about bars getting sued when a drunk driver kills someone. Few people realize that bars and restaurants can be responsible for other types of incidents where a person is injured or killed because of over-service. If a person is drunk when the incident happens, it may be worth looking into whether that person was over-served by a bar or restaurant.
Contacting an attorney as soon as possible is always a good idea if you or a loved one is seriously hurt because of a drunk person, especially because the bar or restaurant where they were served might also be liable.