Comments on: 2 Strikes? 4 Strikes? 6 Strikes? More?

By: Mark's brother

Mark's brother — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:08:12 +0000

Mark Benson’s family has tried for the past 15 years to help him and/or stop the addiction and its related behavior. His behavior began damaging his family long before bones were broken and lives were taken. Still we continued to try and help.
Arrogance replaced the talents God gave him and that arrogance made him virtually unreachable.
This accident is a tragedy almost beyond description and immediately after it happened we reached out to the families that were so horribly affected by this.
I think it’s important that the “victim card” is not played in the scenario. Mark is accountable for what happened. He is NOT the victim here. During his life he did do good things but that does not mitigate the horror of what he did nor his responsibility for his actions.
He’s my brother and I love him but please don’t confuse that love for blind acception of his actions. It’s not. We are so sorry for those who are suffering as a result of this. The families of the Bella’s and Bukowski’s and all those related to them are the victims. We pray for them each day.

By: Sooner Would Be Better! « Jon Groth’s Wisconsin Personal Injury Weblog

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:20:31 +0000

[...] convicted of his 10th drunk driving offense. Now this won’t make the headlines like the Doctor Mark Benson case from Waukesha. But, I hope some state legislator is taking notes and educates the rest about [...]

By: WI Drunk Driver Petition « Jon Groth’s Wisconsin Personal Injury Weblog

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:31:21 +0000

[...] I think we need to take drunk drivers off of the roads and into jail/prison. (I’ve posted about this before…what happens if the drunk driver [...]

By: Ever Hear Of A Designated Driver? « Jon Groth’s Wisconsin Personal Injury Weblog

Mon, 05 May 2008 03:16:39 +0000

[...] Tags: auto accident, designated driver, drunk driving, personal injury trackback I’ve written before about the doctor from Oconomowoc (Mark Benson) who drove while intoxicated and killed and injured [...]

By: jonpgroth

jonpgroth — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:42:50 +0000

I’m very sorry for your loss. What happened is maddening. I’ve seen facts like these too many times. I’ve handled cases for victims across Wisconsin that were injured because of drunk drivers that the criminal courts didn’t think were “dangerous” enough to put behind bars.

First, I want to preface this by saying you should talk with a lawyer. (read my disclaimer).

That having been said: Legally, there is a doctrine called “Negligent Entrustment.” If you are initially in control of a vehicle and allow someone else to use the vehicle AND you knew or should have known that it was likely to use the vehicle in a way that was likely to cause harm then yes, a family (or friend) could be responsible.

But, you asked do I think the “Benson household” SHOULD be responsible. I think Mark Benson should be responsible. Being in the business I’m in I know about Mark Benson more than the average internet news reader. He needs to be held fully responsible for his actions. If the DA gets it right he will go away for a long, long time. If the civil courts get it right he will be go to “financial prison” also.

Honestly, Mark Benson’s family are also victims to some degree. I assume his family struggled with his addiction. I assume his family, kids and close friends worried about him and had a lot of sleepless nights. We know his kids were injured because of their Dad’s addiction back in the early 90′s.

I’m not sure who is in his household but I hope they are as upset about this as I am. I haven’t heard much about them but I have to assume they are good people. Maybe, hopefully we’ll see a news article about how they tried to stop him, called the police or tried to intervene.

If they didn’t then this story just became that much more disgusting.

By: Steve Bukosky

Steve Bukosky — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:48:14 +0000

Do you think that anyone in the Benson household should be responsible for allowing him to have access to a vehicle? And yes, I”m related.