Riverside held not liable in woman’s death
$3.6Maward in crash at hotel tossed
Alanna DeMella, seven months pregnant with her first child, was lounging poolside at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale when a drunken driver failed to negotiate a curve and crashed into DeMella’s cabana.
The accident killed the 26-year-old and her unborn son, whom she planned to name Joshua.
In 2015, a Broward Circuit Court jury assigned 15 percent of the blame to the Riverside. But an appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the hotel was not at fault and overturned a $3.6 million jury award to DeMella’s husband, Michael.
At trial, lawyers for Michael DeMella argued that the Riverside knew Sagamore Road, which is adjacent to the hotel at 620 E. Las Olas Blvd., was dangerous and should have had a barrier in front of the cabana. An
expert testified that palm trees might have prevented the 2012 accident.
Rosa Rivera Kim, 37, of Plantation, had a blood alcohol level three times above the legal limit. Michael DeMella was in a nearby restroom; he was slightly injured.
But a three-judge panel on the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach said the hotel was not to blame. The collision, which caused the concrete columns of the cabana to collapse, “was an extraordinary and unforeseeable event, making Riverside legally not the proximate cause” of any injuries, the judges declared.
Elana Goodman, one of the hotel’s trial attorneys, declined to comment Wednesday.
A Broward Circuit Court jury had awarded Michael DeMella a total of $24 million.
He and his wife, residents of Woburn, Mass., were in town for a twoday marriage conference at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. They won the trip from their hometown church.
Kim pleaded guilty to two counts of DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She reached an undisclosed settlement with Michael DeMella, according to DeMella’s attorney, Brad Edwards of Fort Lauderdale.
“I felt confident in our theory of liability,” Edwards said Wednesday. “If youwere inthe courtroom … it was the right verdict all theway around.”
Still, Edwards said the appellate panel’s ruling was a “well-reasoned opinion” and he respects the decision. Edwards said he does not know whether his client will seek a rehearing.
Edwards added that the hotel has since erected a barrier.
“In one sense,” he said, “we still accomplished a significant goal.”