Sioux City Journal

Jury selection begins in fatal snowmobile accident case

1:00 AM

By Nick Hytrek Journal staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A state investigator called it the most devastating snowmobile accident he'd ever heard of.

Four girls, ages 13 and younger, died in the Dec. 12, 2003, accident near Pierson, Iowa, when a pickup driven by Daniel Bouc, then 16, collided with the two snowmobiles carrying the girls.

Today, a jury of eight Woodbury County residents will be seated to decide whether Bouc was negligent and should pay damages to the parents of two of the victims.

Darwin and Jacklyn Phillips, both of Pierson, sued Bouc in Woodbury County District Court, claiming he failed to keep a proper lookout or keep the pickup under control when it struck and killed their daughters, Andrea, 13, and Kallie, 10. They are seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the present and future worth of their daughters' estates.

Also killed were Lauren Herbold, 11, and Kylie Koch, 10. Their parents are not part of the lawsuit, which was filed by Des Moines attorneys Curt Krull and Kim Rodgers.

Also named in the lawsuit is Bouc's father, Fred Bouc, of Pierson, who owned the pickup involved in the accident.

The Boucs, represented by Alan Fredregill of Sioux City have countered that the Phillips girls were at fault because they were violating several safety laws, including driving snowmobiles without adult supervision.

According to investigators at the scene, Andrea and Kallie were driving the snowmobiles in the ditch along Lenox Avenue north of Pierson in the late afternoon. As the girls crossed the gravel road, Bouc crested a hill and collided with both snowmobiles.

An Iowa State Patrol investigation ruled that the collision was unavoidable and estimated Bouc was traveling 30 mph at the time of the accident.

In their lawsuit, Darwin and Jacklyn Phillips claim that Bouc was not operating the vehicle at "reasonable and proper speed" and failed to remain on the right side of the road.

Expected to testify on their behalf are two engineers who have performed accident reconstruction tests.

The defense also plans to call an engineer and crime scene investigators.

The trial is expected to last up to two weeks. District Judge Duane E. Hoffmeyer is presiding.

Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.

Story Comments

jlkffm wrote on Jun 27, 2007 4:44 AM:

" I wonder how the Phillips would feel if the parents of the other 2 girls decided to sue them for negligence in the death of their 2 daughters. What goes around comes around. They should be ashamed. "

jeannie wrote on Jun 26, 2007 9:34 PM:

" i feel it is such a shame that now days we can have no such thing as an accident in our world. we have to be able to blame someone!!! may it be the parents, the driver, the children someone!!! it was a horrible accident, who of us has not let our children do something that may not have been real safe and how many of us drive too fast at times or maybe drive slowly thru a stop sign (rolling stop) sometimes, we are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and i would say that was the case here, all parties were in the wrong place at the wrong time!!! "

Lynda wrote on Jun 26, 2007 1:30 PM:

" I remember when that terrible accident happened. My first thought was that the parents would lose all their children because of endangering them by allowing them to ride the snowmobiles unsupervised, and sad as that was, I felt it was the right thing to do. I was shocked and dismayed when the anger was turned to Daniel instead. And now this lawsuit - it's just a terrible shame that the Phillips parents are trying to temper their guilt by laying it on Daniel. I hope Daniel countersues for the years of therapy it will take to get over this. "

CR wrote on Jun 26, 2007 12:54 PM:

" We all know what happens in court...we've seen it on TV. The entire event is re-lived basically. What parent in their right mind would want to have to re-live this...the photos, the diagrams, the records. I have a daughter and going through this once would be more than I would ever want to have to deal with in one lifetime....little lone reliving it again for money. How do you put a pricetag on your childs life? I know I couldn't. "

observer wrote on Jun 26, 2007 12:31 PM:

" My heart goes out to ALL involved. And by no means do I support the lawsuit, but you may need to take a step back and think about this in a different light. It most likely is not just so the parents can get rich. However, a more likely scenario could be the insurance companies involvement. All insurance companies will try to blame another party so that their company does not have to shoulder all the costs. Whether it is the Phillip's health ins company, a life ins company or the company that carried their liability on their property. All of these companies probably paid out claims at the time of the accident and I'm sure they are trying to find a way to recoup such costs. They usually don't care how horrible it is for all these families to go through this again, and the Phillip's family may not have had much say in it. It's all about the bottom line for them (the insurance carriers), NOT the family. Just a thought! "