IN THE NEWS
Hit-and-run civil lawsuit to await results of criminal trial
By Sheila G. Miller / The Bend Bulletin, November 1, 2011
The wrongful death lawsuit brought against the hit-and-run driver who allegedly killed a man on Northeast Third Street in January has been delayed until criminal proceedings are complete.
Bret Lee Biedscheid, 38, is scheduled to go to trial in May — on one count each of criminally negligent homicide and failure to perform the duties of a driver — after he allegedly hit Tony Martin, 48, with his pickup truck and then failed to stop on Jan. 26.
In September, Martin’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Biedscheid in Deschutes County Circuit Court, which details Martin’s injuries — including broken bones and damage to the spinal cord — and alleges Biedscheid was drinking at the Black Horse Saloon in northeast Bend before the crash. The suit seeks $505,000 on behalf of Martin’s sister and three children and does not specify an amount for noneconomic damages.
Biedscheid’s attorney, Heidi Mandt, argued that moving forward with civil litigation would compromise her client’s constitutional rights to remain silent and to get a fair criminal trial. Biedscheid was not present for the hearing.
Mandt told Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Tiktin that allowing the civil suit to move forward before or during the criminal trial would be a waste of the court’s time, and that information released during the criminal trial would be useful in the civil lawsuit.
“We’re not asking for a three-year stay. Let’s stay it 18 months or not even that long, just until July,” Mandt said.
Failed to reach a settlement
Attorney Tom D’Amore — who represents Teresa Gibbs, the sister of Tony Martin — said Biedscheid had essentially forced the civil lawsuit because the parties couldn’t agree to a settlement. D’Amore told Judge Tiktin that Biedscheid’s criminal attorney — Steven Houze — had wanted to settle criminal and civil matters together, but because a settlement could not be reached Martin’s family had to file a formal lawsuit.
He said the civil case would be different from the criminal case.
“The law is pretty clear that the defendant isn’t entitled to a stay,” D’Amore said.
Judge Tiktin disagreed. He granted the stay, pointing out that because of the nature of the court system the civil case likely wouldn’t be heard before summer of 2012 anyway.
Judge Tiktin said he would not stay the pretrial hearing that would establish the trial date, and that he would stay the civil case only until June 1 — in anticipation of the criminal trial being finished by then.
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