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Judge dismisses suit over fatal brawl

According to the ruling, members of the family suing a convenience store were "instigators of violence" in a 2003 fight that caused one death.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published August 30, 2006

DADE CITY - The family of a man killed during a convenience store brawl in 2003 was dealt another blow in court Tuesday when a judge decided the civil case would never go before a jury.

Todd Byers, a New Orleans tugboat captain, died Sept. 15, 2003, in the fight at a Radiant store at State Road 54 and Collier Parkway in Land O'Lakes.

Armed with baseball bats, Timothy Hahn and his passengers fought Byers and his family. The two sides didn't know each other before that night, but people on both sides were intoxicated and their drunken melee quickly escalated. Hahn of Michigan jumped back into his red Pontiac Grand Prix and ran over Byers and his sister-in-law Patty Byers. She survived.

A jury convicted Hahn of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. He is serving a life sentence.

Byers' son Todd Miles, brother Steven and sister-in-law Patty filed a civil suit against Hahn and the Radiant store. After settling with Hahn's insurance company, they removed him from the suit.

The case against Radiant said the store failed to maintain safe premises for its customers. The Byerses' attorney, Jeffrey "Jack" Gordon, argued during a hearing recently that the store's employees were not trained in the company's own safety policies.

On Tuesday, Gordon said he was surprised by the order from Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb granting summary judgment, which refers to the Byerses as "instigators of violence."

"Our position is that's not the case here. There was no intention on the part of my clients to do ill will," Gordon said.

"Clearly, the Byerses went there to properly purchase food items, and they were in the process of leaving."

After talking with Patty Byers, who was badly injured that night, Gordon said he will either request a rehearing or move for appeal.

Terri Thomas, attorney for Radiant, could not be reached Tuesday. But in the earlier hearing, she said Hahn and the Byerses, not the convenience store, were responsible for what happened that day.

"You engage in a fight, you cause a bodily injury, there should be no reward for that," she said.

[Last modified August 30, 2006, 06:34:07]