Taylor-Rice v. State

Opinion of the Court by

MOON, C.J.

Following a bench trial in the fifth circuit court, defendant-appellant State of Hawai'i (the State) was found jointly and severally liable for damages resulting from a single-car accident that occurred when defendant Kenneth Richard Leigh drove his ear off Kühió Highway on Kaua'i, striking the buried end of a guardrail and vaulting into a utility pole. The accident resulted in the death of two passengers, Alexa Dawn Taylor (Alexa) and Darlene T.K. Blasie (Darlene) and caused serious injury to a third passenger, plaintiff-appellee Rudolphus Verdoorn.…