A Santa Fe, N.M., man convicted of a fatal 2010 drunken-driving accident says his filing a lawsuit against two restaurants and a drinking buddy doesn’t mean he’s not taking responsibility for his actions.
James Ruiz says in a letter to the news media that his lawsuit is intended to make the defendants take responsibility for their actions while seeking a way to repay relatives who paid for his legal defense.
Ruiz is in prison in Grants, serving a 42-year sentence for manslaughter and causing great bodily injury by vehicle.
Two members of a Naschetti family in Santa Fe for a high school basketball tournament were killed when Ruiz’s truck rear-ended the family’s car.
Ruiz and four other people were injured in the four-vehicle accident.
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