William Senne's legal troubles and Ellen Engelhardt's quest for justice are far from over.
Senne's admission he was drunk when his car smashed into Engelhardt's state police cruiser, leaving her with crippling brain damage, may cost his Wayland family millions in a civil suit.
William Senne, 20, his father, Peter Senne, and the father's company, Quissett Properties Inc., now face a multi-million dollar civil suit in connection with the crash, one that could target the family's $1 million-plus home on a private island off Cape Cod.
Trooper Ellen Engelhardt's daughter, Lora Tedeman, acting as her mother's legal guardian, has filed a $6.2 million civil suit in Plymouth County Superior Court.
The suit claims William Senne, who admitted he was drunk at the time of the July 26, 2003, crash, "so carelessly, negligently and grossly negligently operated...a motor vehicle" he caused Engelhardt's massive injuries when his car slammed into the rear of the trooper's parked cruiser at more than 90 mph.
Since Senne was 18 at the time, and the red Volvo 940 he was driving was registered to Quissett Properties, his father's company, all three parties are liable, the suit claims.
"Quissett Properties and/or Peter Senne, negligently entrusted and/or carelessly, negligently and grossly negligently permitted William Senne to use (the car), causing Ellen Engelhardt to sustain severe personal injuries," the suit reads.
As detailed in court papers, the injuries Engelhardt sustained in the crash were devastating.
Immediately following the accident, Engelhardt was taken by helicopter from Rte. 25 in Wareham to Boston Medical Center, where she was hospitalized for six weeks.
Engelhardt underwent "multiple surgeries, which included the removal of portions of her brain," the suit reads, before being transferred to Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago. Today she lives at the Middleboro Skilled Care Center, where she requires constant care.
The injuries left Engelhardt unable to speak or communicate. She can barely hold her head up, and is confined to a wheelchair and fed through a stomach tube.
When the suit was filed in late 2003, the cost of the Marshfield native's care had already topped more than $500,000 in medical bills, along with $20,000 in lost wages. The suit estimated the cost of her continuing care could top $5 million, along with lost wages of more than $750,000 in her lifetime.
'Pull all-nighters'
The accident that forever altered Engelhardt's life happened just after 6 a.m. on July 26, 2003.
William Senne's legal troubles and Ellen Engelhardt's quest for justice are far from over.
Senne's admission he was drunk when his car smashed into Engelhardt's state police cruiser, leaving her with crippling brain damage, may cost his Wayland family millions in a civil suit.
William Senne, 20, his father, Peter Senne, and the father's company, Quissett Properties Inc., now face a multi-million dollar civil suit in connection with the crash, one that could target the family's $1 million-plus home on a private island off Cape Cod.
Trooper Ellen Engelhardt's daughter, Lora Tedeman, acting as her mother's legal guardian, has filed a $6.2 million civil suit in Plymouth County Superior Court.
The suit claims William Senne, who admitted he was drunk at the time of the July 26, 2003, crash, "so carelessly, negligently and grossly negligently operated...a motor vehicle" he caused Engelhardt's massive injuries when his car slammed into the rear of the trooper's parked cruiser at more than 90 mph.
Since Senne was 18 at the time, and the red Volvo 940 he was driving was registered to Quissett Properties, his father's company, all three parties are liable, the suit claims.
"Quissett Properties and/or Peter Senne, negligently entrusted and/or carelessly, negligently and grossly negligently permitted William Senne to use (the car), causing Ellen Engelhardt to sustain severe personal injuries," the suit reads.
As detailed in court papers, the injuries Engelhardt sustained in the crash were devastating.
Immediately following the accident, Engelhardt was taken by helicopter from Rte. 25 in Wareham to Boston Medical Center, where she was hospitalized for six weeks.
Engelhardt underwent "multiple surgeries, which included the removal of portions of her brain," the suit reads, before being transferred to Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago. Today she lives at the Middleboro Skilled Care Center, where she requires constant care.
The injuries left Engelhardt unable to speak or communicate. She can barely hold her head up, and is confined to a wheelchair and fed through a stomach tube.
When the suit was filed in late 2003, the cost of the Marshfield native's care had already topped more than $500,000 in medical bills, along with $20,000 in lost wages. The suit estimated the cost of her continuing care could top $5 million, along with lost wages of more than $750,000 in her lifetime.
'Pull all-nighters'
The accident that forever altered Engelhardt's life happened just after 6 a.m. on July 26, 2003.
According to police reports, Engelhardt was parked in the breakdown lane just off Rte. 25 in Wareham, investigating a hit-and-run accident that had been reported to police about 3 1/2 hours earlier.
Senne, meanwhile, spent the hours leading up to the accident drinking and partying with friends.
In a statement given to State Police Sgt. Lawrence Garbacik, Senne said he had left his family's Cape Cod home about 9 p.m. the night before, headed for a party at a friend's house in Wayland.
In an interview with police after the accident, Senne admitted to drinking three or four beers earlier in the night, and said he arrived at the party at about 10:30 p.m., stayed for a few hours, and drank one or two more beers.
Though he originally told police he left the party at about 2:30 a.m., Senne later corrected himself, saying he left just before 4:30 a.m. Though he hadn't slept at all during that time, Senne told police, "I pull all-nighters all the time."
Senne told police he couldn't remember what happened in the accident, and claimed he had fallen asleep.
At least two witnesses, however, seemed to contradict his story, telling police they'd seen Senne's Volvo weaving in and out of all three lanes of traffic at more than 90 mph. Witnesses also reported seeing the car's brake lights go on just before the accident, and saw smoke coming from the brakes.
Regardless of how much Senne's car may have slowed, the accident was devastating.
According to police reports, Senne's Volvo plowed into the back of Engelhardt's Crown Victoria, smashing it into the guardrail and flinging it approximately 175 feet from the point of impact. Senne's car came to rest about 100 feet away.
Senne was taken by ambulance to Tobey Hospital in Wareham, where he later allowed police to draw blood to determine his blood alcohol level at the time of the crash.
Though his blood was drawn several hours after the crash, a prosecution expert indicated Senne's blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was between .08 and .12 -- at or above the legal limit in the Bay State.
Nearly a year and a half after the accident, Senne last week pleaded guilty to drunken driving and driving to endanger, and was ordered to serve 2 1/2 years in the Plymouth County House of Correction, followed by five years probation and 500 hours of community service. He could be released after serving 15 months. Senne will also lose his license for two years.
In court, last week, the now-20-year-old Senne apologized to Engelhardt's family.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry. I've been thinking that there is nothing I can do to go back in time."
Island summer home
Though many calling and e-mailing the Daily News complained Senne got off with too light a penalty, his guilty plea could still come back to haunt him in the pending civil case, experts said.
"The law is that his plea of guilty is an admission," Chris Milne, chairman of the civil litigation section of the Massachusetts Bar Association, said this week.
Though the ultimate decision in the case would still fall to a jury, Senne's guilty plea can, and almost certainly will, be used in court against him.
It would not be surprising, Milne said, if Engelhardt's lawyer, Neil Sugarman, uses television coverage of the criminal trial to illustrate Senne's admission of guilt to jurors.
The dilemma for Senne's lawyers now becomes how they admit their client is criminally, but not civilly, liable for the accident.
It's a fine line to walk, Milne said.
"If the jury sees the defendant admitted it, but they say that's not true, I think it creates a real dilemma in that case," he said.
Criminal cases, Milne explained, are basically about the state's efforts to enforce the law, while civil cases typically involve individuals, and can include monetary damages, such as lost wages, and payment for pain and suffering.
Typically, criminal cases move more quickly, due to defendant's constitutional rights to a speedy trial, Milne said. Depending on their complexity, civil cases can take between two to 3 1/2 years before reaching trial.
Though it is currently stalled, when Engelhardt's case does come to trial, the Senne family may have much to lose.
According to the Bourne Assessor's Office, Peter Senne's 3,097-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bathroom summer home sits on just over 3 acres of land on Bassett's Island, a private wooded island just off Wings Neck in Pocasset Harbor.
The two-story home features central air conditioning, a water view and an outside shower, and is one of just six homes on the approximately 100-acre island, accessible only by boat.
Peter Senne also has a 1989 Steiger Craft power boat registered in Bourne, officials said.
And though Sugarman refused to discuss the case, he did suggest the island home may be one of the targets of the suit.
As part of the suit, Sugarman is asking the court for a real estate attachment on all real estate owned by Senne, his father and Quissett Properties in the amount of $10 million.
The attachment, Milne explained, is similar to a lien a bank might place on property to recoup a loan.
If allowed, the attachment could prevent Senne from selling any property and force him to turn over the profits from any sale to Engelhardt.
"If they ever tried to sell or mortgage the property, they'd have to satisfy that attachment first," he said. "It's a real big deal if it's allowed."
To win the case, Sugarman said, he'd have to prove Peter Senne acted carelessly in allowing his son to drive, a charge Sugarman backs up extensively in court documents.
According to Senne's driving record, the teen was cited twice for speeding, once for failing to wear a seat belt and had his license suspended for nearly a month, three months before the accident.
In addition, Sugarman in an affidavit claims Senne had a prior alcohol-related infraction, and was on prescription medication for attention deficit disorder, which may have contributed to the accident.
Though he refused to discuss the case directly, Sugarman did say he is aware of the Bassett's Island property.
"The answer to the question is it depends," he said. "Mr. Senne would have to be found to be careless himself in allowing his son to drive the car, then maybe some of those things would come into play. It's possible."
