BIA Wrongful-Death Trial Starts.(Final)
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Feds Blamed For Lack of Oversight Top supervisors in the Bureau of Indian Affairs office where Lloyd Larson worked until a fatal January 2002 drunken-driving accident said Tuesday they did not detect and could not have foreseen his alcohol abuse problem. Elouise Chicharello, BIA regional director for the Navajo area, and Paula Puente, then acting community resources director for the office, repeatedly said they believed they’d followed policies and procedures prior to the devastating collision that killed four people. Their testimony came at the start of a civil bench trial in U.S. District Court before Judge William “Chip” Johnson. Larson, driving his government-issued truck, killed two Nebraska couples — Larry and Rita Beller and Edward “Bud” and Alice Ramaekers — in the devastating Jan. 25, 2002, head-on collision on Interstate 40 west of Albuquerque. His blood-alcohol content hours after the incident… |