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Partial Deal Reached In Case Over Fatal Brawl

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By TODD LESKANIC

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 24, 2008

DADE CITY - A lawsuit filed by the family of a man killed outside a convenience store reached a partial settlement last week in the family's claim against the store's parent company.

The Radiant Group agreed to pay the family of Todd Byers to end part of a lawsuit that was first filed more than four years ago. Tampa lawyer Jack Gordon, who represents the Byers family, said he couldn't disclose the amount because of a confidentiality agreement.

Neither the Byerses nor Radiant attorney Robert Santa Lucia could be reached for comment Friday.

The Byers family has pressed its case since Sept. 14, 2003. Todd Byers; his fiancee, Julie Barrilleaux; his brother Steven; and Steven's wife, Patty, spent most of that day celebrating Todd's engagement to Barrilleaux.

Todd Byers and Barrilleaux lived in New Orleans at the time, but had flown in so Barrilleaux could meet his family. The foursome spent the day at the beach and stopped at the Radiant store at State Road 54 and Collier Parkway on the way home to Land O' Lakes.

As Todd Byers was guiding his Cadillac out of the parking lot, Timothy Hahn drove his Pontiac into the lot and nearly struck the Cadillac.

Words were exchanged and seconds later, passengers from Hahn's car were standing outside the Cadillac armed with baseball bats. During the ensuing brawl, Todd, Patty and Steven Byers got out of their car. Later, Hahn drove the Pontiac over Todd and Patty Byers.

Todd Byers, 40, was pinned to the wall of the convenience store and died at the scene. Patty Byers suffered a shattered pelvis, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. She has had numerous surgeries and has recovered, despite doctors' initial fears that she might not walk again.

Hahn, now 27, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2005 and sentenced to life in prison. By then, the Byerses had filed suit against Radiant, contending the employees should have done more to protect customers and to stop the brawl before Todd Byers was killed.

The settlement reached last week relates only to the claims of Patty Byers. Gordon said a wrongful death claim against Radiant on behalf of Todd Byers' estate and his surviving son remains open and could go to trial.

At times during the case's trek through the legal system it seemed as though Radiant might prevail. In 2006, Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb tossed the case, calling the Byerses "instigators of violence" and ruling that they had no standing to sue Radiant.

The following year, the 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned Cobb's decision and reinstated the case. Last month, Gordon avoided another pitfall when Cobb denied Radiant's motion to split trial of the case into two parts - one to decide liability and, if needed, a second to decide damages.

Splitting the trial, also called bifurcation, is a defense tactic done to limit potentially powerful testimony of death and injury during the liability portion of the proceedings. The limitation makes it difficult for plaintiffs to sway juries with such testimony, Gordon said.

"The vast majority of those cases came back in favor of the defendant," he said. "You don't get the value of life, the emotional impact."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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