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Making INTERNATIONAL NEWS: Woman sues family of boy she killed

George Wallace

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WOW!  Is it time to ask the world to stop so we sane folk can get off:

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Christie Blatchford: Family of teen fatally struck by SUV sued by motorist for her ‘pain and suffering’

National Post, Full Comment
Christie Blatchford | April 24, 2014 | Last Updated: Apr 24 8:18 PM ET

As astonishing evidence of the raw appeal of the robes of victimhood, the female motorist who struck and killed a teenage cyclist 18 months ago is now suing the estate of the dead boy for more than $1-million.

According to a statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court last December by the woman’s lawyer, Sharlene Simon “has sustained and will sustain great pain and suffering,” including “a severe shock to her system” as a result of the crash.

“…her enjoyment of life has been and will be lessened,” the document says.

Also named in the $1.35-million suit are two other boys who were with Brandon Majewski when Ms. Simon’s Kia Sorrento hit the trio, and the County of Simcoe, responsible for maintenance of Innisfil Beach Road in the town of Innisfil, about 80 kilometres north of Toronto.

Brandon was 17 when, with his 16-year-old friends Richard McLean and Jake Roberts, the trio decided to cycle to a coffee shop late one fall Saturday night.

‘Her enjoyment of life has been and will be lessened’.

They were returning to their homes about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 28, 2012, riding abreast along the two-lane paved rural road, when they were hit from behind by Ms. Simon’s black SUV.

Brandon took the brunt of the impact, and was thrown over the roof of the car; he was barely alive when paramedics arrived, and despite vigorous efforts at resuscitation, was pronounced dead about two hours later at the Royal Victoria Health Centre in Barrie.

Richard’s bike was struck simultaneously, and he was later transferred to St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto, where he spent weeks recovering from his injuries. The third boy, Jake, was knocked off his bike, but wasn’t seriously hurt.

A collision reconstruction team from the South Simcoe Police Service investigated the crash; their 26-page report found that the “lack of visibility” of the cyclists “was the largest contributing factor,” and that on a dark overcast night, “the driver of the Kia did not see the cyclists on the roadway and was unable to make an evasive reaction.”

The report says police consulted with a local Crown prosecutor, who told them there was “absolutely no reasonable prospect of conviction and that no charges should be laid.”

But Brandon’s father, Derek Majewski, was gobsmacked this week when he walked out of his lawyer Brian Cameron’s office having just learned that, as he put it, “my dead son and the boys are being sued by the woman that killed him because she is distraught.

“Normally, I would not react like this,” he told Postmedia in an email, “but I think it’s very cruel.”

The death of their bright and popular son shattered the Majewski family, he said in a phone interview, voice growing thick with emotion. About six months after Brandon’s death, his older brother Devon, who had taken Brandon’s death particularly hard, died in his sleep from a combination of pharmaceuticals and alcohol.

‘Normally, I would not react like this,” he told Postmedia in an email, “but I think it’s very cruel’.

Mr. Majewski and his ex-wife, Venetta Mlynczyk, have lingering questions about the quality of the investigation.

They particularly believe that the boys were blamed for the accident that killed Brandon — that it was their fault because only two of the bikes had what the police called “minimal reflectors,” because they were riding abreast, because their clothing was dark, albeit with reflectors, because they weren’t wearing helmets.

As Mr. Majewski put it, “They’re kids; they’re allowed to make a mistake.”

Ms. Mlynczyk later complained to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director — she alleged that one of the investigators from South Simcoe was friends with Ms. Simon’s husband, Jules Simon, and, in essence, that the investigation was mismanaged or biased.

That complaint was referred back to the South Simcoe force for investigation, and in a September 2013, report, the review concluded that the allegation of discreditable conduct against the officer was unsubstantiated and that the original probe was thorough.

Mr. Majewski remains concerned that the force investigated itself, and said he had expected that an outside force, such as the Ontario Provincial Police, would have been asked to handle it.

The South Simcoe review also addressed a number of the mother’s other concerns, many of which appeared to have sprung from town rumours.

One such was that Ms. Simon’s husband, Jules, was a member of the South Simcoe force, but as the report to Brandon’s mother said, in fact he is an officer with York Regional Police who had never met the investigator from Simcoe before.

The report also confirmed that Ms. Simon, who acknowledged driving at about 90 k.p.h., above the 80 k.p.h. limit, wasn’t required to take a breathalyzer test because there were “no grounds to request” one. A roadside screening device was administered “out of an abundance for caution,” the report said, and registered “zero alcohol content in her blood system.”


‘They’re kids; they’re allowed to make a mistake’.

That report didn’t address what Mr. Majewski says South Simcoe police told him – that Ms. Simon’s husband had been following her home on the night in question.

Mr. Simon didn’t respond to an email sent to his York Regional email address, nor did Ms. Simon’s lawyer, Michael Ellis, reply to a voicemail message.

Mr. Majewski, Ms. Mlynczyk, their new partners and their children are also suing Mr. and Mrs. Simon and Simcoe County for a total of $900,000. Their suit alleges Ms. Simon was speeding, under the influence or texting at the time of the accident, and that Mr. Simon allowed her to drive the SUV when “he knew or ought to have known” she was in no condition to do so.

None of the claims in either suit has been tested or proved.

However, the Majewski-Mlynczyk statement of claim, filed last March, is much more the norm: Whatever else, it is their son who was killed.

But now Ms. Simon, her husband and mother and her three children are suing Brandon’s estate and the boys who were with him that night.

After all, as Ms. Simon’s statement of claim says, “Her enjoyment of life has been irretrievably lessened…,” though not as much, say, as was Brandon’s.

Postmedia News
cblatchford@postmedia.com

More on LINK.
 
George Wallace said:
WOW!  Is it time to ask the world to stop so we sane folk can get off:

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

LINK

More on LINK.

I agree George. Wow…. Just ….. Wow.

Ms Blatchford's last line just sums up the stupidity of it all.
 
cupper said:
I agree George. Wow…. Just ….. Wow.

Ms Blatchford's last line just sums up the stupidity of it all.

Yes it does sound rather all around stupid but I would chalk it up to "legal" wrangling and nothing more.  Yes, it is an unfortunate incident and I feel deeply for the family who lost their child, something that no parent should ever have to experience.  But it's not like the driver "intentionally" did it and according to police records, alcohol was not involved.  So it seems to be an "accident" and we all have "insurance" when we drive, or so we hope.

No charges were laid and somewhere along the way, the grieving family was led down the path of venturing into a lawsuit.  Will that make anything better? 

Now just for the heck of it, picture yourself in the "drivers" spot, you're now being sued.  I don't exactly think you "personally" would come up with such a statement as quoted in the article.  But at the sametime, if you don't obtain a lawyer and launch a "counter suit", kiss your house and everything else goodbye.  That's just the way the system works.

Is it the childrens fault, the drivers fault or was it an "accident"?

That's what our legal system has turned into nowadays.
 
That's the way the American system works. It's not the way we traditionaly do things in Canada.

IMO, the blame for the degradation of our system towards the Americans, is fully the responsibility of the ambulace chasing shysters that the Law Society allows to be called to, and pass, the Bar.

Dollars to doughnuts, both sides went for the cheapest shylocks that have the best record. Chances are, if they were to win a judgement of, say, $250,000 the ambulance chaser would get $245,000.

'Better Call Saul' ;)

Edit - spelling
 
UPDATE on lady who is suing dead boy, his family, other injured boys and the families of other injured boys that she hit with her SUV.

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Driver that struck teen suing dead boy's family

The Ottawa Sun
April 26, 2014

By Tracy McLaughlin ,Special to QMI Agency 
First posted:  Friday, April 25, 2014 09:50 AM EDT  | Updated:  Friday, April 25, 2014 08:00 PM EDT

ALCONA - Still in the throes of agony from losing their son in a vehicle crash, the parents of young Brandon Majewski are now reeling after they learned the woman who struck and killed him is suing their dead child.

“I feel like someone kicked me in the stomach — I’m over the edge,” the dead boy’s father, Derek Majewski, said. “Sometimes, it makes my blood boil.”

As he sits in his immaculate Alcona home, near the shores of Lake Simcoe and roughly 90 km north of Toronto, sifting through piles of photographs of his son, the heartache shows on his face and he can hardly contain his tears as he speaks.

Just down the road, on the side of a quiet country stretch of Innisfil Beach Rd., is a memorial complete with a bicycle, flowers and photographs of his son, Brandon.

The spunky, handsome, 17-year-old bike enthusiast was out with his two buddies on Oct. 28, 2012 when they hopped on their bicycles to go for hot dogs on a drizzly, dark night around 1:30 a.m.

“I know they should not have been out there that late,” his father said. “But they are good kids.”

Brandon was struck from behind by an SUV and killed while his friend Richard McLean, 16, was seriously injured with a broken pelvis and other bones. His other pal Jake Roberts, 16, was knocked off his bike but sustained only scratches.

Now the driver of the SUV, Sharlene Simon, 42, a mother of three, formerly from Innisfil, is suing the dead boy for the emotional trauma she says she has suffered. She’s also suing the two other boys, as well as the dead boy’s parents, and even his brother, who has since died. She’s also suing the County of Simcoe for failing to maintain the road.

Even the family’s lawyer is in shock.

“In all of my years as a lawyer, I have never seen anyone ever sue a child that they killed,” Barrie lawyer Brian Cameron said. “It’s beyond the pale. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell them on the phone.”

After a face-to-face meeting Tuesday, the parents and step-parents left his office almost staggering in disbelief.

“I’m devastated, I’m in shock,” said Brandon’s mother, Venetta Mlynczyk, a dental assistant who is drowning in sorrow. “She killed my child and now she wants to profit from it? She says she’s in pain? Tell her to look inside my head and she will see pain, she will see panic, she will see nightmares.”

Her voice shaking with emotion, the mother recalls her last words with her son.

“I said I love you … he said, ‘I love you, too, mom,’ and off he went with his friends,” Mylnczyk said. “At least I have that … but for this woman to be so selfish, to claim she is the one suffering but we are the ones living the nightmare … her children are still living.”

“It blows my mind,” Brandon’s step-mom, Lisa Tessier, said. “We are all devastated. This is so cruel.”

In a statement of claim filed with the court, Simon is claiming $1.35 million in damages due to her psychological suffering, including depression, anxiety, irritability and post-traumatic stress. She blames the boys for negligence.

“They did not apply their brakes properly,” the claim states. “They were incompetent bicyclists.”

Simon’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment from the Toronto Sun Friday.

Brandon’s father shakes his head.

“They’re kids!” he gasps. “And they have a right to make mistakes ... it was a wet, dark road — what about slowing down?”

He insists the reflectors on the bikes would have been visible.

A South Simcoe Police report shows Simon admitted that she was driving at 90 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on the two-lane road. She claims she didn’t see the boys or any of the orange-red pedal reflectors. The impact of the collision cracked the windshield of her SUV, dented the bumper, a headlight was busted, the roof where Brandon hit was dented and scratched and a side mirror dangled by its wires.

The report also states: “No breathalyzer was performed. Although police say no alcohol was suspected and no charges were laid.

Simon’s husband, Jules Simon, a York Regional Police officer, was driving behind his wife that night, but little is mentioned about him as a witness in the police report. He pulled over when Brandon was struck and shortly after drove his wife home in his vehicle.

Two hours later, after Brandon lay dead in hospital from multiple traumatic injuries, police knocked on the door of the Majewski’s home.

The dogs began to bark. It was late.

“I knew,” says his father, and his voice breaks again. “I had a gut feeling.”

Therapy, medication, even booze, doesn’t dull the pain.

And then, six months after the funeral, he awoke to find his second son Devon, 23, who had just graduated as a paralegal, laying in his bed, blue and dead, after popping too many pills and drinking too many shots. Not an intended suicide, they are certain — he was just trying to stifle his grief.

“This has ripped our family apart,” says Majewski. “And now this woman has the gall to try to profit from our dead child she killed? Profit from another boy who was almost crippled?”

He flips again through the family photographs. Happy times of fishing, dirt biking, swimming, eating birthday cake, laughing. He chuckles for a moment when he remembers all the bikes his son rebuilt — sometimes he would sneak the parts right into his bedroom, and shine them till they gleamed. All another world away.

“This thing haunts us,” he says. “It will never stop haunting us.”

Cameron has launched a routine lawsuit against the driver, mainly for medical and funeral costs on behalf of the boys and their families. He alleges Simon was speeding and may have been intoxicated and talking on her cellphone.

“Sharlene Simon failed to take reasonable care to avoid a collision which she saw or should have seen was likely to occur,” his claim states. “She operated the motor vehicle while she was intoxicated.”

None of the allegations have been tested in court.


Now there seems to be something foul in the air after reading this.  Her husband is a cop.  She was allowed to leave the scene without any tests.  Now SHE is suing all the others involved.  If that doesn't leave one with suspicions, then there is something wrong.

This may be one of those stories that will be in the "Stay Tuned" category.



The comments on the LINK are interesting. 
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

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Driver that struck teen suing dead boy's family

The Star
Saturday 26 April 2014
By: Jane Gerster Staff Reporter,  Published on Fri Apr 25 2014


A woman driving a car that struck and killed a teenager and seriously injured another is now suing the dead 17-year-old in a twist the boy’s family lawyer calls “distasteful.”

A statement of claim filed last December alleges the driver, Sharlene Simon, “sustained serious and permanent injuries to important physical, mental and psychological functions” following the October 2012 accident in Innisfil, Ont.

It says her “enjoyment of life has been irretrievably lessened.”

Brandon Majewski, 17, Richard McLean, 16, and Jake Roberts, 16, were riding their bikes along Innisfil Beach Rd. around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 when the accident occurred.

Majewski was killed and McLean seriously injured after being struck riding in one lane of the two-lane stretch which was dimly lit on a drizzly, damp night.

Roberts escaped unharmed. All three teens are named in Simon’s lawsuit.

A 26-page reconstruction report by the South Simcoe Police Service said visibility of the cyclists was the main contributing factor and that police were advised against laying charges by the Crown because “there is absolutely no reasonable prospect of a conviction.”

“The family feels like the wound has been opened up again,” said Brian Cameron, the Majewskis’ lawyer. “The legal theory I sort of understand, but never against a child. Not against a child.”

Cameron only told the family a few days ago, he said, because he wasn’t able to meet with them earlier.

“I was very shocked and I realized I couldn’t tell the parents over the phone,” said Cameron, although he was thankful to receive a courtesy copy of the claim from Simon’s lawyer.

The statement of claim alleges the boys were negligent, biking without the appropriate lights and reflectors, without helmets and they didn’t keep an eye on the road or their bikes under control.

It also claims negligence on the part of the County of Simcoe for failing to keep the road and lighting in good repair.

None of the claims have been proven in court.


Simon’s husband, mother and three children are also named as plaintiffs in the case and, combined, are seeking more than $1 million.


Simon has been heavily criticized since news of the lawsuit broke. “The whole situation is tragic,” her lawyer, Michael Ellis, said in response.

“It’s a tragedy what happened to the boys but it’s also a tragedy that’s happened to (Simon),” he said, adding she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and is unable to work.

“I understand their grief and I understand what they must be going through is awful but my client is also living with this nightmare every day.”

Majewski’s stepmother, Lisa Tessier, called the lawsuit “cruel.”

“My dead son and the other boys are being sued by the woman that killed him because she is distraught,” Tessier wrote in an email.

“Normally, I would not react like this. But I think it’s very cruel to me that my life is basically ruined. I lost both my children and now they (the three teens) are being sued because she is upset.”

Majewski’s older brother, Devon, was found dead at home six months after the accident.

A year ago, the Majewski family filed a separate claim against Simon, her husband and the County of Simcoe.

That claim, which is still winding its way through the legal system, alleges Simon was negligent: travelling at excessive speeds, failing to keep a proper lookout and operating while intoxicated and on the phone.

It also claims Simon’s husband, Jules, was negligent, knowingly allowing his wife to drive impaired.

Much like Simon’s claim, it also alleges neglect on the part of the county for failure to keep the road and street lights in a safe state of repair.

None of the claims have been proven in court and Ellis declined to comment since it’s being handled separately by Simon’s insurance company. A number listed to Simon has been disconnected.

Related:

More GTA stories on Thestar.com

====================================================================


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Witness who held Innisfil teen's hand after fatal bike crash speaks up

The Barrie Examiner
By Tracy McLaughlin, Special to QMI AGENCY
Saturday, April 26, 2014 4:29:41 EDT PM

INNISFIL -- A woman who held Brandon Majewski's hand in his last dying seconds after he was struck and killed by an SUV says she will never forget that night.

"It's not a memory I will ever forget," said Melanie Lachance, 36, a school teacher who works in Vaughan.

Brandon, 17, and his two friends were out riding their bikes on the dark stretch of Innisfil Beach Road after 1 a.m Oct. 28, 2012. Brandon's friend was seriously injured while another sustained only scratches. Police say they were riding side-by-side on the road.

Lachance remembers pulling over and seeing the red glint of bicycle reflectors from the busted bicycles in the ditch. She spotted one boy moaning in the ditch and her husband rushed to him. Another boy was panicked but unharmed, she said.

Then she spotted Brandon, laying in the middle of the road.

"He was right in the line of oncoming traffic . . . I held his hand, but there was nothing I could do," Lachance said. "He took some gasping breaths. It hits you even harder later on."

She says she recalls the driver's "husband" suddenly appeared frantic at the side of the road and asked her their location so he could call police. She told him and he walked back to his wife's vehicle
.

"Then he was gone," Lachance said. "I never saw him again."

Alone, she attempted CPR but someone else with more expertise arrived and took over.

One thing continues to trouble her, she said, is why she and other witnesses were forced to remain at the scene for hours, until 5:30 a.m., as police conducted their investigation, while the driver of the vehicle and her husband were allowed to go home.

"That never sat right with us," Lachance said. "It was very troubling . . .  we always wondered why."

The lawyer representing Brandon's family who is now being sued by the driver is also looking for answers.

"Some things about the case aren't making sense right now," says Barrie lawyer Brian Cameron. "We are looking for answers so this family can find some peace."

Brandon's family remains confounded over why the woman who struck and killed him believes she is the one who should be financially compensated for killing their son.

Brandon's estate, and his two friends, are all being sued by the driver, Sharlene Simon, formerly of Innisfil, for $1.35 million for emotional trauma she says she has suffered.

Even more confusing Cameron said, is the fact that the woman's husband, Jules Simon, a York Regional Police officer, is also suing for $100,000 for damages and expenses incurred because of his wife's suffering.


According to the police report and court documents, Jules Simon was following his wife in another vehicle the night of tragedy. But Cameron doesn't know why he was following her, or where they were coming from.

"These are questions I'm hoping I can find answers to," Cameron said.

The police report also states alcohol is not suspected and that Simon admitted to driving at 90 km/h in an 80 km/h zone. No charges were ever laid.

"The point is this family is suffering and no amount of money can bring Brandon back," Cameron said. "But shedding some light on these questions will help bring closure for this family."


The story really starts to reek, the more you look into it.
 
Doesn't really pass the sniff test does it.

Husband following the wife home at 1:30am
Wife who just hit three kids allowed to leave the scene with the husband.
Husband "didn't know" where they were coming from or why he was following his wife.

::)
 
It certainly seems like this law suit is being conducted more to counter the law suit that has been laid by the family of the deceased teen. I'm not sure if it's the same here as it is south of the border but my understanding is that it's easier to prove civil liability than it is a criminal charge as one is tried on the balance of probability versus beyond a reasonable doubt.

Either way it's an awful situation and I feel terrible for any parent  who has to bury their children.
 
ObedientiaZelum said:
Husband "didn't know" where they were coming from or why he was following his wife.

It didn't say that.  The family's lawyer didn't know where they were coming from or why he was following his wife.

According to the police report and court documents, Jules Simon was following his wife in another vehicle the night of tragedy. But Cameron doesn't know why he was following her, or where they were coming from.
 
My mistake. There doesn't seem to be an official explanation where they were with two vehicles and why she was being followed home.

Still, no pass.
 
ObedientiaZelum said:
Doesn't really pass the sniff test does it.

Husband following the wife home at 1:30am
Wife who just hit three kids allowed to leave the scene with the husband.
Husband "didn't know" where they were coming from or why he was following his wife.

::)

You forgot these two points:

Wife allowed to leave the scene; and
Husband a cop.

To the last point - the loss of faith that many folks have in the police these days should have resulted in their being extra thorough and transparent here. I'm not saying there's anything untoward happening, but the appearance is there, and appearance is everything.
 
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