Three widows are trying to forgive Sarah Timblin, the drunken driver who killed their husbands last year. But they aren't letting her, or those who they charge enabled her, off the hook for restitution.
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Marlin Banks Sr. and brothers Inocente Sanchez and Luis Sanchez were killed when Timblin's SUV struck their Honda Civic head-on early on the morning of March 11, 2008.
Marlayna Banks, Maria Rivero and Lillian Latoni filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Lancaster County Court May 27 against Timblin; her parents, Wayne and Linda Timblin; Doc Holliday's Steakhouse Inc.; Keares Inc., which operated Doc Holliday's, now closed; and Brickyard Sports Inc.
Sarah Timblin, then 23, had gotten on the Route 30 ramp at Harrisburg Pike, near Park City, and was driving the SUV the wrong way in the eastbound lanes. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.26 — more than three times the legal limit for driving.
Timblin, formerly of Washington Boro, is serving a nine-to-18-year sentence in Cambridge Springs state prison.
She was also convicted of DUI in 2006, and public drunkenness in 2006 and 2007.
The lawsuit claims that her parents left their SUV where their daughter worked — the Belvedere Inn Restaurant and Bar — so she could drive home. The lawsuit charges they did so knowing their daughter's license was suspended for the prior DUI charge.
Wayne Timblin refused to comment Thursday.
The lawsuit charges that Doc Holliday's and the Brickyard Restaurant & Sports Pub served Sarah Timblin alcohol though she was visibly intoxicated, and let her leave in that condition.
Pete Keares, president of Keares Inc., said Thursday that he had not been notified of the lawsuit.
"Although we give our condolences," he said, "I think being in the bar four or five hours before the accident and only having a couple of drinks really makes it tough to put any liability on our part."
Timblin was at Doc Holliday's from about 10 to 11 p.m. the night of the crash, Keares said.
"I guess when someone decides to sue somebody, they name anyone they can whether or not they're liable," he said.
According to the lawsuit, Timblin went to the Brickyard after that.
The crash happened at 2:45 a.m March 11.
A call to the Brickyard Thursday was not returned.
In a civil lawsuit, the plaintiff's attorneys must prove negligence, explained attorney David Rosenberg.
In a civil lawsuit, the standard plaintiffs' attorneys must meet to prove negligence is less strict than its criminal equivalent.
Rosenberg, who has an office in Lancaster, is not associated with the lawsuit, and did not comment on it specifically.
In Pennsylvania, a plaintiff cannot ask for a specific amount or reveal to the jury how much insurance money is available to the plaintiffs, Rosenberg said.
Calls to Shawn P. McLaughlin, of Philadelphia, attorney for Rivero, and Neil J. Rovner, of Harrisburg, attorney for Banks, were not returned last week.
"Sarah, I don't hate you. I have to forgive you for what you've done," Banks said at Timblin's sentencing hearing last October. "But I want you to see how many people you've affected."
Inocente Sanchez is survived by his wife, Maria Rivero. Luis Sanchez is survived by his wife, Lillian Latoni, and seven children. Marlin Banks Sr. is survived by his wife and two children.
"If you could just imagine when the working family member dies," Schleifer said. "I don't know how you really calculate that, and it's going to be a tough job for a jury to do someday."
Jeannette Scott is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact her at jscott@lnpnews.com or at 291-8689.
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