exboyfriend dropped girlfriend and broke her teeth($12K+ bills)

[Zulu_01]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MO

Hello all, I will appreciate if someone could give us some advice on the situation below.

About 6-7 months ago, Carol and Charles were girlfriend and boyfriend.
One day Carol was at a charity event and Charles came to pick her up. They went back home.
Charles was drinking alcohol from the event, while at home, Charles picked Carol up and dropped her on her face, he might have slipped but the fact was that Carol was dropped on her face, because if the impact she suffered 2 black eyes and broke her two front teeth.
Charles panicked as there was blood everywhere, he called Carol's mom and explained what happened. Charles never took Carol to the hospital, instead he gave her a sleeping pill. When Carol woke up she was covered in band-aids.
The next day Carol bruised and with broken teeth had to go work.
She later went to Charles dentist, she explained to the dentist what happened and she had to get veneers for her two front teeth. Charles never offered to pay for the bills.
Although this happened several months ago, Carol is still struggling with the veneers, she went to the dentist today and they had to replace the veneers again, while at the dentist she had a panic attack.

Now the dental bills are amounting to more than 10K. Charles and Carol are no longer together but her struggle with the consequences of this incident are still causing her emotional pain aside from having to pay for the dental bills.

Carol was laid of several months ago and Charles has never offered to pay for the bills.
Is there a way to take Charles to court for the dental bills?
At the moment of the accident there where no witnesses since they were at home by themselves. The next person that new about it was Carol's mom.
Why legal action can be taken if any against Charles.

[tranquility]

There are enough problems to make the outcome uncertain, but enough money to see an attorney.

[Zulu_01]

Thank you for your quick response, you mentioned many problems, can please point them out? Thanks

[divona2000]

Originally Posted by Zulu_01

...Charles was drinking alcohol from the event...

...Charles picked Carol up and dropped her...she suffered 2 black eyes and broke her two front teeth...he called Carol's mom and explained what happened. Charles never took Carol to the hospital...

The next day Carol bruised and with broken teeth had to go work...she had to get veneers for her two front teeth. Charles never offered to pay for the bills...Now the dental bills are amounting to more than 10K...
At the moment of the accident there where no witnesses since they were at home by themselves...

Was Carol drinking too?
How old are they?
Why did Carol's mom not go get her?
She went to work with broken front teeth? (Or were they just chipped...because she should have been in agony with broken teeth).
no dental insurance...?
no witnesses...

[ecmst12]

Also does Charles have any money that he'd be able to pay a judgement (voluntarily or through garnishment/asset seizure/leins)?

[Zulu_01]

I believe Carol had a drink at the charity event, Charles had several drinks. Carol was 24 and charles was 27 at the time of the incident. Charles recently purhased a 300k house, he has a stable job at a reputable multinational. She didn't have any insurance at the time as she had been laid off. I will find out about she went to work, there is picture

[tranquility]

Money of the defendant, assumption of the risk defense, contributory or comparative (depending on the law of the state) negligence defense, was there negligence at all, mitigation of damages.

That's just from the very quick reading of the facts. Once a cause of action is determined and the facts laid out, we could play more.

[Zulu_01]

tranquility, thank you for all your help, I apologize but I didnt comprehend the last reply, sorry I dont know any legal jargon.
Can you please clarify what are the chances of this becoming a case that might rule in favor of Carol, at this point she is looking for him to pay the dental bills, I dont think she is looking for anything else.
what would be the cost of taking this to court?
what does Carol have that might play against her?
Thank you for your assistance.

[IsabellaSoriano]

so charles was so drunk, but carol was thought it was okay to be driven around by this guy? so drunk, but she let him pick her up?

an accident occured. if carol was physically assaulted, she should have filed a police report.

i've fallen on my face before. it hurt. none of my teeth fell out. but i did get a pretty bruise on my chin.

[Zulu_01]

Isabella,
thank you for your input, I am not sure if you are comparing falling on your face on your own to being picked up by another person and being dropped on your face and I dont believe you are comparing you having a bruise on your chin to having your teeth replaced for veneers. I think these are two different things, I dont believe that a chin bruise will stack up dental bills as replacing teeth do.

[tranquility]

That's one of the reasons why you need to see an attorney. Someone who can look at the facts and determine a cause of action, of possible defenses and who has experience with local juries.

But:
--money of the defendant: Can she really collect? If he doesn't have the money, a judgment won't make it appear. With hope, there may be some insurance, but probably not.

--assumption of the risk defense: What goes up must come down. Boyfriend/girlfriend wrasslin' can sometimes injure someone. That does not make the other person responsible. If she allowed herself to be picked up, a jury may find she assumed the risk of what could happen.

--contributory or comparative (depending on the law of the state) negligence defense: I don't know the state rule, but what did she do to contribute to the injury? Was she drunk too? Did she wiggle around? Did she grab him by the short hairs and pull?

--was there negligence at all: Duty, breach, casuation, damages. While we can get cause and damages (at least some) pretty easily, what is the duty of a boy/girl drunk grabass? Does he really have a DUTY to not drop a person he picked up? Maybe so, but, I'd have to do some research to be sure.

--mitigation of damages: What did she do to keep from getting more hurt? Did she do anything which increased the amount she was hurt?

As I said before, there are enough problems to not think this is a done deal, but the amounts involved are enough to see an attorney.