Toby Keith's family wins suit in father's death
Monday, December 24, 2007 – The family of Toby Keith won a $2.8-million dollar award against a Tulsa, Okla. Company for the wrongful death and negligence of T.K. Covel, Keith's father, in a March 2001 car accident.
Elias Rodriguez and Pedro Rodriguez - doing business as, Rodriguez
Transportes of Tulsa and the Republic Western Insurance Company, an Arizona
Corporation - were found responsible.
Covel was driving a Ford truck that was traveling near
Goldsby, Okla. when he was bumped by another vehicle, sending his truck
across the median, where it was struck by a southbound tour (charter) bus.
The Rodriguezes were in a 1996 Dina Viag charter-type bus loaded with 21
passengers at the time of the accident. They had purchased the bus in
October of 2000. In the following month, November 2000, a bus servicing
facility in Tulsa inspected the bus and found it was "urgently" in need of
brake work.
An expert witness testified that Covel would have lived if
the bus has been equipped with proper brakes and the driver had been
properly trained to drive the bus The evidence in the case revealed the bus
driver, David Perez, was not trained to drive a commercial bus and did not
have a commercial driver's license. The jury concluded the accident was
"clearly avoidable," according to Keith's publicist.
Initially it was speculated that Covel may have suffered a medical
condition, thereby causing the accident because no one knew that a car had
bumped his truck onto the other side of the I-35. Six months after the
accident, Jeanne Sparlin, who was the driver of that vehicle, was charged
with leaving the scene of a fatality accident. She later pled guilty to the
charge. This collection of facts led the Covel family to hire an
investigator to determine how the accident occurred and what caused
Covel's death.
The unanimous jury verdict in the case answered these questions for the
family, clearly establishing that Covel was not at fault. In addition, the jury found by clear and convincing evidence
that Rodriguez Transportes acted in reckless disregard for the rights of Covel.
"We were only there to find the truth and the jury saw it so plainly that
they awarded us a unanimous decision," Toby Keith said.
The plaintiffs in the case were Covel's wife, Carolyn Covel, his daughter,
Tonni Covel and sons Toby Keith Covel and Tracey Covel.
More news for Toby Keith
CD reviews for Toby Keith
American Ride
As his latest 12-song outing demonstrates, few singer-songwriter's craft a commercial hook song as well as Toby Keith. Combining the by now standard mix of rock guitars with honky-tonk instrumentation, Keith largely eschews political ideology in favor of sincerely rendered romantic moments (Are You Feeling' Me, Tender As I Wanna Be) and self-reproach (Woke Up On My Own). And, just in case there was any doubt, he assures us that singing country music is preferable to digging ditches (Gypsy Drifter). »»» |
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy
Toby Keith focuses on 2 major topics: 1) how much he enjoys drinking and carousing all night, and 2) how he can't seem to keep the love of a good woman. One wonders in most of these co-written tunes with Bobby Pinson whether he's considered how being successful in the one will impact the other. It's all great fun, though, whether it's the title track's plea for understanding on his honky-tonkin' ways ("I'm as good as I gotta be"), or his motorcycling »»» |
Classic Christmas
Recording Christmas music is trickier than it seems, especially with opinions so divided over the holiday's deeper meaning. Many believe it to be exclusively spiritual and solely focused on Jesus' birth, whereas others just want to have a jolly time. Although this chasm makes it extremely difficult to be all things to all people, Toby Keith has smartly recorded 2 distinct CDs of 20 songs of well-known seasonal songs: One that extols December's winter wonderland, the other filled with holiday hymns. »»» |
Editorial: American Idol's Carrie Underwood can sing –
If anyone saw the Super Bowl – what a great great game that was – they would have heard American Idol winner and country superstar Carrie Underwood sing the National Anthem. Underwood did with her voice what Kelly Clarkson did last week with her written words – give it to Scott Borchetta, the head of Big Machine Records,, who tried defending Taylor Swift by knocking American Idol performers. »»»
Concert Review: McBride, Adkins shine sometimes –
As Martina McBride pointed out, the pairing of the country singer with Trace Adkins on their current jaunt was surprising. After all, she's of diva-quality voice, petite, non-controversial unless you call singing songs that empower women controversial. Adkins, on the other hand, has not been afraid to speak his mind with a kick butt attitude.... »»»
Concert Review: Eilen Jewell wears her musical hats well –
Eilen Jewell wears a lot of musical hats. The Idaho native, who now lives in Boston, fronts the Eilen (ee-lin) Jewell Band, a pretty much traditional country band. She's a member the Sacred Shakers, an octet doing gospel country with a country beat. And she has yet another project, Butcher Holler, covering Loretta Lynn songs.... »»»
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