Drunk driver sues friend, restaurants after deadly crash conviction
| SANTA FE, N.M.
A repeat drunken driver convicted in a fatal drunken driving crash is suing two Santa Fe restaurants and a friend that he says caused him to drive drunk.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that James Ruiz filed a lawsuit Wednesday in New Mexico District Court and is seeking monetary damages from a former drinking buddy and Applebee's and the Blue Corn Cafe.
According to the lawsuit filed by Ruiz without a lawyer, the restaurants and his friend caused Ruiz "emotional distress" when they served him booze in 2010. Police say Ruiz rammed his truck into a car and killed two teenage sisters from the Navajo reservation.
He's serving a 40-year prison sentence after entering a guilty plea in 2011.
Both restaurants declined to comment on the lawsuit.
