Wrongful death lawsuits are filed in situations where someone dies as a result of another person’s negligent or intentional act. These kinds of lawsuits are usually reserved for traffic collisions and product liability, the state of Alabama is seeing a wrongful death lawsuit that breaks the mold.
The state’s supreme court ruled that a family’s wrongful death lawsuit can proceed after their daughter committed suicide after a rape investigation failed her and painted her rapist as the victim.
20-year-old Megan Rondini was a student at the University of Alabama when 34-year-old TJ Bunn offered her a ride home from a bar in 2015. Rondini, drunk, agreed, but she had sobered up by the time Bunn pulled into the driveway of his mansion. She knew she didn’t want to have sex with him and made this clear, still he persisted, and she was able to flee after the assault occured by escaping through a second-story window.
In the middle of the night, Rondini did her due diligence to ensure the strongest case against him; she visited both a hospital for an exam and then the police department to file a report. Despite her doing everything right, Alabama’s archaic rape definition got in the way; Rondini did not kick or hit Bunn, which does not meet the requirements of this law.
Not every instance of sexual assault gives the victim to freedom or ability to physically fight back against their attacker, but Rondini’s case was thrown out. She took her own life in 2016, and her family decided to get in touch with a lawyer for family issues such as wrongful death.
While her sexual assault case went nowhere, the family has hope that a wrongful death lawsuit will get the the attacker to face some sort of consequence for his actions. Bunn argued that because Rondini committed suicide, he shouldn’t be held accountable since her death was her own choice, but the Alabama courts disagreed.
The Rondini family has an abundance of evidence showing how their daughter’s trauma and subsequent mistreatment lead up to her suicide. Their lawsuit is still developing against Bunn, but Megan left behind a variety of written evidence detailing her mental anguish following her attack and interactions with the police. The police department’s security camera clearly shows officers intimidating her and denying her experience. Various psychological studies describe victims’ inability to move, and therefore fight, during sexual assaults.
The wrongful death lawsuit lawyers of the Law Office of Nigel Burns are experts in showing how someone’s acts can lead to the death of another, and suicides qualifying for a wrongful death lawsuit can mean big changes for people in these kinds of situations. If you are in need of help following a sexual assault, speak to the professionals at the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
