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Hogan Defense Faults Seat Belt

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune
and STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 8, 2007

Previous Coverage And Photos
Bollea's Pro Racing Status At Stake
Video: Bollea Arrested
What The Affidavits Reveal

CLEARWATER - After the accident, Hulk Hogan and his family offered their encouragement, their emotional support and their deepest hopes that John Graziano would recover from his critical injuries.

On Wednesday, authorities charged the famed wrestler's 17-year-old son, Nick Bollea, with reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. Almost immediately, Hogan family attorneys called into question Graziano's own inaction that contributed to his injuries.

"The tragedy to both families is compounded by the fact that unfortunately John was not wearing his seat belt," Bollea's attorneys wrote in a statement. "Thankfully, Nick was wearing his."

Nick Bollea

By raising the issue of seat belt use, Bollea's attorneys could be laying groundwork for his criminal defense and attempting to minimize future civil liability, legal experts said.

Two and a half months after he wrecked his Toyota Supra, leaving Graziano, a passenger, with minimal brain activity, Bollea surrendered Wednesday to face allegations he was racing at the time and had been drinking.

Bollea, who lives with his parents in Belleair, appeared slightly sullen Wednesday as he was dropped off at the Pinellas County Jail by two Clearwater police officers and released within hours on $10,000 bail.

Attorneys Morris "Sandy" Weinberg Jr. and Kevin Hayslett released a statement saying the family's "primary focus and concern" remains Graziano's recovery. The statement also said the family wants to increase awareness of seat belts because Graziano was not wearing his.

Graziano's mother's attorney, George Tragos, said the charges against Bollea were "appropriate" and the seat belt is a nonissue.

"I think people are going to recognize whether he was or was not wearing a seat belt has nothing to do with criminal activity," Tragos said. "I think it's just a red herring to try and shift the blame to a person who is in critical condition in the hospital."

Graziano's father's attorney, Kimberley Kohn, was equally upset.

"I find it stunning," she said, "that their defense in trying to justify their son's criminal and outrageous conduct is to place the blame on a young man who fought for his country, who's lying in a hospital bed unconscious."

Tom Scarritt, a Tampa lawyer with no connection to the case, said Florida law allows seat belt use as a defense in civil lawsuits. If a driver causes a crash but the injured person was not wearing a seat belt, civil damages against the driver can be reduced.

In a criminal case, Scarritt said, defense lawyers might argue that the crash would not have been as severe if the victim wore a seat belt. The charge of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury might not apply.

"If he had his seat belt on, he would not have been seriously injured," Scarritt said. "It would have changed the scenario, probably."

Therefore, the Bolleas' announcement to begin a seat belt campaign is not necessarily altruistic, Scarritt said.

"Is the Bollea family really trying to raise awareness about seat belt usage? Let's hope so," Scarritt said. "Is that a campaign that helps their legal strategy? I think so."

On Aug. 26, Bollea's 1998 Toyota Supra hit a curb, crossed two lanes and struck a palm tree.

John Graziano

Riding as a passenger with Bollea was Graziano, 22, a Marine veteran of the Iraq war, who was left with "minimal brain wave activity," according to court documents. He was on a full ventilation system and was unable to move his extremities. Attorneys for his parents have more recently called him incapacitated, but say he is responding to stimuli.

A half dozen witnesses told police that Bollea was street racing against a Dodge Viper, later found to be owned by Hulk Hogan, before he lost control of the Supra. One witness said the cars were going faster than 60 mph, court documents state. The posted speed limit is 40 mph.

"Not these two again," one witness recalled thinking, after seeing the two cars race between intersections, according to court documents. At one point, Denise Cirella was between the two cars at a light when Bollea "grimaced" at the driver of the Viper, she told investigators.

Cirella later saw Bollea's Supra fishtailing as it went out of control, spun and jumped the median before smashing rear-end first into a palm tree, court documents state.

The driver against whom Bollea is accused of racing was a friend, Daniel Jacobs, 22, and riding as a passenger with Jacobs was Barrett Lawrance, 27. Lawrance told police that earlier in the day he, Jacobs and Bollea were on Hogan's boat, the documents state. Jacobs told authorities he had four beers on the boat and later drank a 32-ounce rum runner at a popular Clearwater bar, according to the documents.

The boat at one point paused at Shephard's Tiki Bar, but didn't stop there because the crowd was too large. The boat then went to Three Rooker Island, then returned to Shephard's, where Lawrance said he saw Bollea drinking something, though he didn't know what, court documents state.

Lawrance said they returned to Bollea's home where they decided to go to the Arigato Japanese Steak House. That's when the four hopped into the two vehicles, court documents state.

In addition to the reckless driving charge, Bollea was cited for using a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony, driving with illegal window tint and driving as a minor with a breath-alcohol level of 0.02 or higher. Court records state that two hours after the wreck, Bollea's ethanol serum level was 0.055.

Bollea's attorneys took issue with the decision by the state attorney's office to charge Bollea as an adult.

"Everyone forgets this is a kid, a juvenile," Hayslett said. "At the time of this accident, he had been 17 for almost 30 days."

Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant state attorney, said his office dealt with Bollea as they would any 17-year-old.

Bollea's other attorney, Weinberg, maintained that at the time the Supra struck the palm tree it was traveling under the speed limit.

"This was an accident," Weinberg said at a news conference. "Except for the grace of God, it could have been the other way around. Nick had his seat belt on. ... John did not have his seat belt on."

After the news conference, Hogan came to the jail in a white Mercedes to pick up his son. Bollea and his mother hugged. The teen got in the back seat and put on his seat belt.

News Channel 8 reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813)259-7698 or tkrause @tampatrib.com. Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson @tampatrib.com.

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