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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Statesman: Searching To Place Blame

When Amanda Andaverde of Caldwell fell 25 feet from a third-floor fraternity room window, suffering serious injuries, who was at fault? Through their lawyers, Raul Andaverde and Esmerelda Banda seek to place the blame all over the map:

  • They say the University of Idaho and the State Board of Education failed to adequately supervise the U of I’s fraternity houses.
  • They say the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house is unsafe, since it allowed Amanda Andaverde to roll out of a bed to the concrete surface below.
  • They say sisters from her Delta Delta Delta sorority should have prevented Andaverde, then 19, from drinking at frat parties on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10, 2009. Andaverde had reportedly been drinking at two parties before the accident.

The family says it will settle with the various parties for $1 million. The deadline: June 15. We often argue that a public entity is best off settling a lawsuit, rather than spending taxpayer dollars on a protracted legal process. This is not such an instance/Idaho Statesman Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Should the UIdaho try to settle this suit?


Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/05/30/2135134/a-lengthy-search-to-affix-blame.html#storylink=cpy


D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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