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Underage Drinking Charges Dismissed

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 12, 2008

Updated: 04/12/2008 12:23 am

PLANT CITY - In a case that focused on holding adults accountable for teenage drinking in their homes, a judge Friday dropped charges against a couple accused of hosting a party where alcohol might have been consumed by a 17-year-old boy who later died while driving drunk.

Attorneys for Lamar Justice and Tara McEntarffer, both 43, maintained their clients were out to dinner when the party began that fall day in 2006. McEntarffer told the teens to leave when the adults returned to the home and found out underage drinking was taking place.

Hillsborough County Judge Artemeus McNeil dismissed the case after listening to defense arguments that the couple did nothing illegal.

A prosecutor contended Justice and McEntarffer should have driven the teens home, called a taxi or even summoned law enforcement.

Several teenagers said they brought beer with them when they visited McEntarffer's son, Alec, while his mother and her boyfriend weren't home.

Tyler Matthew Clark of Valrico was killed when he crashed his 1995 Jeep Wrangler early on Oct. 8, 2006. The Jeep, carrying six passengers ranging in age from 15 to 17, was headed west on Bloomingdale Avenue near Bell Shoals Road when it hit a tree, killing Clark and injuring his passengers, investigators said.

Tyler's mother, Denise Clark, wept as she left the courthouse but declined comment.

Ellen Snelling, a co-chair at Tampa Alcohol Coalition, attended the court proceeding and later said she was disappointed with its outcome.

"Parents and adults must be held responsible for the welfare and safety of minors," Shelling said. "I know what went on in there, by the law, but I think the law should be improved to require adults to do more when they see underage drinking."

McNeil ruled the prosecution failed to prove its case and dropped charges against the couple without the defense presenting witnesses in the nonjury trial.

6 Who Were At Party Testified

Justice and McEntarffer, both of 1708 Erin Brook Drive, faced up to 60 days in county jail if found guilty of a law prohibiting open-house drinking by minors. Hillsborough prosecutors charged the couple with misdemeanors for violating that law, which makes it illegal for adults knowingly to allow underage drinking in their home.

After the testimony of witnesses presented by Assistant State Attorney Kimberly E. Low, defense attorneys Ryan Sawdy and Ty Trayner, representing Justice and McEntarffer, respectively, asked McNeil to dismiss the charges.

McNeil complied, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling mentioned by Trayner.

During the trial, the prosecutor called six witnesses who attended the party in Valrico. All acknowledged there was drinking at the home. They said the beer was purchased at local stores, not taken from the home. The adults did not sanction the event or know it was happening until they came home, the witnesses said.

Neither defendant offered to drive anyone home or call a taxi, but none of the teenagers appeared impaired, the witnesses testified. No one could say whether Clark was drinking on the couple's property.

Clark's blood-alcohol level registered 0.10 after the crash, investigators said. It is illegal for anyone under age 21 to drink alcohol in Florida. By state law, adults with blood-alcohol levels above 0.08 are presumed to be impaired.

Christopher Terlizzi, one of the teens at the party, who was injured in the Jeep crash, told the judge he went to the McEntarffer house to see Alec.

"There was seven or eight kids there," Terlizzi said. "Some of them were drinking. I can't recall if anyone was drinking inside the house. Some kids were in the front of the house and on the back porch."

Terlizzi, who was 15 at the time, said he could not recall many specifics because he suffered head trauma in the wreck. He did acknowledge going to a store with a friend to buy more beer.

Terlizzi said he did not recall what happened to the beer they brought to the house.

The teenagers left the party in more than one vehicle, witnesses said.

'No Winner Here Today'

Nicholas Baldwin, another prosecution witness, said the couple was not aware of the drinking until they arrived home.

"The adults came home after dinner and asked everyone to leave," said Baldwin, who was not with Clark at the time of the crash. "Tara said we had to leave."

Snelling said she understood the reasoning behind the judge's ruling, but it left her with an empty feeling.

"It's obvious the open-house party law is weak," she said. "But beyond that, I am amazed how easy it was for the 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds to buy beer from neighborhood stores.

"There is no winner here today. We all lose. Something has to be done to prevent the sale and consumption of beer by underage youths."

Ron Darrigo, attorney for Tyler Clark's estate, said Denise Clark recognized the open-house party law is weak.

"Mrs. Clark was upset that the disjointed testimony about the party did not match what she knew to be consistent with earlier statements made by witnesses," Darrigo said.

Darrigo said Clark and several of the Jeep's passengers have filed claims against McEntarffer's homeowners' insurance carrier. No lawsuits had been filed against McEntarffer or Justice, he said.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at gnewman@tampatrib.com

or (813) 865-4451. or (813) 865-4451.

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