The parents of a bicyclist who was struck and killed by a drunken driver in December 2006 have settled their lawsuit against the driver and the bar that served her for slightly more than $1 million.
Berky's agreed to pay Barbara Nordlund and Robert L'Ecuyer $1 million in the death of Paul L'Ecuyer, and Melissa Arrington's insurance company agreed to pay $25,000 on Monday — one day before the case was to go to trial in Pima County Superior Court, said plaintiff's attorney John Osborne.
Arrington was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison in January 2008 after a Pima County jury convicted her of negligent homicide and aggravated DUI in Paul L'Ecuyer's death.
Prosecutors told jurors that L'Ecuyer, 45, was riding his Schwinn in the 5-foot-wide bike lane about 8:40 p.m. when Arrington swerved off the road, struck him and then continued for 800 feet before stopping.
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A blood test taken 2 2/3 hours after the collision showed Arrington, who was driving on a suspended license for a prior DUI, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.156 percent, nearly double the DUI level. A witness to the crash testified that Arrington swerved off the road twice before the collision.
Arrington's attorneys contended the crash was simply a tragic accident.
Arrington testified she consumed three drinks at Berky's, 5769 E. Speedway, before the crash. She had just signed a lease-purchase agreement for her home in Vail, and she was celebrating with her Berky's co-workers, she said.
She said she struck L'Ecuyer while reaching for hand sanitizer.
L'Ecuyer's parents filed a lawsuit against Berky's and Arrington to remind people they need to continue "working tirelessly to do away with drinking and driving and to over-serving at bars," Osborne said.
They intend to use the settlement to fund a scholarship created in their son's name shortly after his death and to pay for his nieces' and nephews' education, Osborne said. Some of the settlement may also be donated to the University of Arizona and Phoenix College.
At the time of Arrington's sentencing, Judge Michael Cruikshank said he gave Arrington an aggravated sentence because he found a recorded phone call between Arrington and a friend "breathtaking in its inhumanity."
In a call from the Pima County jail, the man told Arrington an acquaintance of theirs believed she should get "a medal and a (expletive) parade because she had taken out "a (expletive) tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot."
Arrington laughed. When the man said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded, "No, it's not."
Instead of laughing, Cruikshank said, Arrington should have been rendered silent by such shocking and disgusting sentiments.
During the hearing, L'Ecuyer's mother and siblings described him as a man with "enormous ideals" who gave out Thanksgiving Day baskets to the needy, rode in charity events and passed out fliers every Martin Luther King Jr. Day urging people to write down their dreams and goals.
He held degrees from Chapman University, the University of Arizona and Phoenix College in counseling and career development.
Martin Clare, a Phoenix attorney who represented Berky's, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
