Gerald Mohs stayed sober for nearly three decades. But six months after he fell off the wagon, his final binge ended in tragedy.
On a September night two years ago, Mohs hit four bars and downed at least 21 drinks in seven hours before driving a car down the wrong way of a divided highway in Rochester, where he hit another car head on, killing a 9-year-old boy and paralyzing the boy's 7-year old cousin.
Mohs got 57 months in prison for his bender. Now, in what may be the largest civil trial judgment in Olmsted County history, a judge has awarded $15 million to Mohs' victims. Half of that money will come from three taverns that served him when they should have realized he was drunk, the judge ruled.
"This is a guy who hadn't had a drink in 27, 28 years," said Jim Suk, attorney for the victims and their families. "Unfortunately, when he got back to drinking, he got into that terrible crescendo you see sometimes in long-term alcoholics.
"He thought he could have a drink, and a drink is never enough."
Suk said he believes the award, filed by District Judge Joseph Chase, is the largest in a civil case in Olmsted County history. The previous record was also a case Suk handled.
The victims' families declined to comment Monday on the judgment.
According to court documents: