Thinking Like A Lawyer

Questions

1. Where did the child get their alcohol from?

2. Who was aware that they were consuming alcohol under age?

3. Is there any background history where the family has had similar problems?

4. How long have they been drinking for?

Website

1)      http://alcoholism.about.com/od/binge/a/teen_death.html

This article is about a 16 year old girl by the name of Julia Gonzales. This incident occurred in 2008 and the girl was found deceased at Pedretti Park in Turlock, California. She was found by a person just passing by and the reason of her death has puzzled both the media and the public for three months. Nobody knew the cause of her death but it was found out when her toxicology report came in. At the time of her death, her toxicology report was at 0.52. This is an incredibly high blood content level and is equivalent to 16 drinks in one hour. For a girl like Julia, being 5 feet 2 inches and only 100 pounds, this turned out to be devastating. Her body couldn't handle all the alcohol and doctors predict that she suffered from acute alcohol poisoning.  

It was said that no one called the police after her disappearance on the day of her death. She had been out of the house starting at 7 p.m. and was then found at 5 a.m. the next morning. The article also states that she was with her friends but they had then ditched her and she was by herself which was how she was found in the morning. What confuses me is why her friends weren't with her, why no one called the police, and why her parents weren't concerned about her whereabouts. No fingers are being pointed at anyone else because I believe that she is to be blamed for what she did to herself but I am just confused as to why no one cared about her and the things she did so late at night. There should have been someone with her and monitoring her actions throughout that period because even if she didn't drink and then die, there are still other dangers out there that could have led to her death or another tragedy of some sort. If I were out that late, I would have calls every hour asking where I was and when I was going to come back home. This same situation might not apply because of the lack of information on the relationship her and her parents had. She was also 16, which is a relatively young age to start drinking and the possibly "care-free" relationship she has with her parents could have potentially influenced her actions or made her think that it was okay.

2) http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/670637--teen-died-after-party-house-parents-let-friends-drink

This article is about a young man by the name of Chris Skinner, age 17, who died by the cause of alcohol poisoning. He got off of his shift at Boston Pizza at 9:30 pm on a Saturday in 2010. He was in grade 11 and went to Waterdown High School, and drank more than five times the legal limit on that night which led to his death. He drank all this in a period of five hours with both his parents and his brother fully aware of his alcohol consumption. He came back from his job and went to work with some friends. They began drinking at one of their friends houses as the played a drinking game called Kings. After they were done with the game, one of Chris's friends had stated that Chris was "sloshed" by this time, already indicating that he had drank too much. Even though he had exceeded the amount he should have consumed, he continued to party and drink alcohol back at his house with his friends. They came home and drank with his parents, then went into the basement and did a drug known as marijuana. Then they proceeded to play beer pong with his older brother, therefore intensifying his drunkenness and topping the night off with a few more beers. After finishing this rampage of binge drinking, Chris passed out and was moved to the couch where he eventually died due to alcohol poisoning.

I feel as though the parents were definitely to blame in this situation as they are not only responsible for their child, but also the activity that happens in their very own house. To me, it was shocking that the parents not only let their son drink in their own house with them (under age as well) but that they also drank with him. This, to me, sends a false message to the child saying that its okay to drink underage and that he can do it whenever he wants because they don't care enough to stop him. They might have been alcoholics in the first place which could have caused Chris to drink so much in the first place. They should have been concerned about his well being or at least notified as to how much he drank before coming home and if it was safe for him to consume any more. In my opinion, the lack of care and concern by the parents led to this individuals death, but that doesn't mean that I am directly blaming the parents. I believe that Chris was to blame for his own death because he is 17 years of age and should be responsible for his own actions. There should be some guidance by the parents but ultimately, the decision was up to Chris to either drink or not and that night, he chose his own fate.

"Thinking like a lawyer"

Questions:

1)      Where were these drugs or alcohol consumed?

2)      Who was present at this time? Were there parents supervising?

3)      Who supplied the drugs or alcohol?

4)      Was this individual peer-pressured to consume these drugs or alcohol?

5)      How much of these drugs or alcohol were consumed?

6)      Where were these drugs or alcohol purchased from?

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/19838506/autopsy-teen-died-of-heroin-overdose

In this video of a news story it goes about explaining a heroin overdose of a seventeen year old boy. This heroin overdose came as surprise to his family, school and even his mother. Kiet Nguyen was an outstanding football player that managed to be involved with athletics, maintained good grades and had a balanced social life. This unfortunate death was caused by the one time use of heroin that had been offered to Kiet and his friends by a girl in their group of friends. If only this girl would have known what permanent damage this offer would have on Kiet’s entire life. Kiet as well as some of his other friends did this heroin for the first time that night although Kiet’s body was the only one that reacted to it in a sense that it left his body lifeless the next morning. A few days after Kiet passed away, one of his brave friends admitted to Kiet’s mother that they went out together to smoke marijuana that night but ended up doing heroin laced drug called cheese.

            After watching this news story it made me think to myself who would be responsible for the death of this teenager. Would it be Kiet himself? His friend that sold the drug to him? Or the actual drug dealer that had supplied the drug to Kiet’s friend? It slightly mentioned at the end of the video that there was a lot of finger pointing about who would be taking the blame for Kiet’s death and even if there was going to be charges pressed. I believe that there are a lot of questions to be answered before the blame is thrown upon one person. I personally think that there is a partial blame on both the girl that supplied the drug to Kiet and on Kiet himself. It would be hard to be in Kiet’s mothers position where she had no idea that Kiet was involved in such activities then have such a thing take away his life. This situation will be hard for the police to investigate further into.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/14-year-dies-alcohol-poisoning-slumber-party/story?id=14065038

            This article here is presented along with a news story about a 14-year-old girl that had possibly died from alcohol poisoning. Takeimi Rao had invited three of her friends to sleep over at her house one night where they were presumed to be mixing vodka with soft drinks. During the night two of Takeimi’s friends were found throwing up by Takeimi’s mom, she didn’t think anything of it and only thought that it was food poisoning. She helped these girls, cleaned them up and put them back to bed. The next morning Takemini’s mother found Takemini lifeless lying on her bedroom floor. Paramedics came to the house and pronounced her dead on the scene. Unlike the other girls Takeimi did not throw up once during the night. As the bottle of vodka was found within the house it was said to be the landlord’s old bottle that was just left in the cupboard. In this situation I believe that the parents take responsibility for these four girls, especially their own child. Although these parents did not supply these young girls with this alcohol, they consumed the vodka in their house and under their supervision. It is the parent’s job to check up on these girls, especially if two of them were puking. This article and unfortunate situation shows how even under parent supervision accidents are bound to happen. The parents should take the blame and responsibility for their daughter’s death and should be thankful that it only happened to one out of the four girls.

Looking at the issue objectively there are a few questions that came to my mind first right off the bat:

-What was the background of the victim’s family? (i.e. family support, who is in the family, other factors)

-where did the event take place?

-who else was involved? (i.e. were there any bystanders, other witnesses or others directly influencing the victim)

-if alcohol or drugs were involved, was there a background of those substances or substance abuse within the family?

Example 1)

 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/18/ernest-azoadam-teen-dies-surrey-party-bus_n_2712831.html

The first example that I have chosen to discuss about substance abuse is the case of a 16 year old boy named Ernest Azoadam from North Delta who tragically died after being on a party bus with his friends. This case easily intrigued me to look into it farther due to the idea that I know people who were in fact friends with this boy and attended the same school as him. From the many articles I have read and how it has been portrayed on the news, it seems as though harsh fingers are being pointed towards the company of the party bus. When in reality, I question whether it was really their fault in the first place. Legally, party buses do not allow alcohol onto the transportation devices, but they do not stop people from proceeding with these doings beforehand. I asked myself whether it was the party bus company who did not do their job but in fact if they were following their policies, I feel that the blame should not necessarily be pointed fully at them.

                On top of reading the articles that I found, I decided to talk to a few people who actually knew him and see what they had to say about the devastating situation. One girl that I spoke to said that it was not just alcohol, but substance abuse was involved and the term overdose was used in her description of the event.  Once I learned this, I started to question if it were even possible for the party bus company to even be aware of that situation without preforming an actual test of some sort. In my opinion it is not the party bus company that should be targeted as the media is currently portraying, but rather the individual himself and family members that surround him. It was said on the news as well as in the article that Ernest’s older brother was in fact of the bus with him. With that type of family supervision right around him, the situation could have possibly been avoided or taken to a minimum level. Overall a number of questions need to be asked in order to find who is truly to blame, but the consequences for an event such as this should not be thrown all on one person or on one thing.

Example 2)

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/670637--teen-died-after-party-house-parents-let-friends-drink

                The second article I chose took place in 2010 in Ontario involving a 17 year old boy who died from alcohol poisoning. My response to this article is that the blame lies farther towards the parents of the second house party. The young 17 year old, Chris Skinner, left a party to proceed drinking at the house of a friend where his parents approved of their partying as long as it was done under their own roof. Right there, in my eyes, is the very problem to the situation. With the consent of parents, alcohol can be taken out of control to an even bigger level then normally if it were discouraged by adult figures. For a parent to allow that kind of behavior in their home, they are allowing dangerous situations to be created in what is meant to be a safe environment. Also, as a contributing factor Chris later on proceeded drinking with individuals who were of age, making the situation seem all the better in the parents eyes who owned the house, for the time being.  It seems as though the mom of the home claimed that under aged drinking was okay, as long as the alcohol was not provided by her. From looking into the situation it seemed as though the parents of the house party were to blame for not keeping the matter under control. Yet, on the other hand not one piece of information is mentioned about Chris’ parents and where they were at the time. I definitely think the fault of this case not only lies on the parents of the party but also the many others that influenced Chris’ life and who could have had the power to change the situation. 

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