By Terri Langford, April 8. 2004

A series of bad decisions turned a summer bus trip to church camp into an agonizing nightmare for dozens of parents, attorneys told jurors Thursday as they put forth their case against two companies at the center of a 2002 bus crash that killed five.

The Discovery Tours of Texas bus, chartered by Metro Church of Garland and driven by Ernest Carter, careened into a highway pillar on Interstate 20 near Terrell about an hour into the trip.

"That summer of fun turned into a terrible, tortuous tragedy," said Mark Werbner, the attorney for Joan and Don Stout, parents of 16-year-old Nick, who suffered permanent brain damage in the June 24, 2002, accident.

"Some of those children never came back," Mr. Werbner said in his opening statement. "Most of them will never be the same again."

Mr. Carter, the driver, was killed along with four passengers: Michael Freeman, 12; Michelle Chaney, 14; Amanda Maxwell, 13; and Lindsay Kimmons, 16.

Dozens of parents filed lawsuits against three sets of defendants. After 22 months of litigation, most of the claims were settled. But two key defendants remain: Eric Rockmore and his company, Discovery Tours of Texas, and Willie James Green Jr. and Green's Transportation.

On Thursday, three lawyers representing 17 families of children killed or hurt in the crash laid out their negligence case either against Discovery Tours of Texas or Green's Transportation, the company originally hired by the church to take the teenagers to a Louisiana church camp.

Mr. Carter, who was hired for the bus trip chartered by Metro Church of Garland, was sleep-deprived and had trace amounts of cocaine and Valium in his body, attorneys for the families said. His driving record was riddled with traffic offenses, records show.

Mr. Werbner cataloged the injuries of those who survived, punctuating the air with his hands and fists.

"They killed children," said David A. Schiller, attorney for many of the families. "They changed every child's life who was on that bus."

Mr. Werbner described how Mr. Carter, who had "an abysmal record" as a driver, was a last-minute replacement even though it was known he had not had recovered from a Florida trip two days before.

"Had prudent actions been taken ... these families would not be agonizing," said Stephen A. Khoury, attorney for Ashley Pavelko, whose family is suing Discovery Tours for her injuries.

But attorneys for the defendants told jurors they would have to focus not on disfiguring injuries but on the cause of the crash. Shoddy paperwork or bad driving records aside, they said, evidence will prove that a snake found at the crash scene could have startled Mr. Carter and caused him to veer off the road.

"What you've not heard yet is the cause," said Rob Miller, attorney for Mr. Rockmore. "There is no disputing Eric made mistakes."

Mr. Miller said that the driver was standing up just before the crash, and he plans to introduce evidence that a snake was likely on the bus.

"We do know the snake was there," he said.

Last year, most of the victims' families agreed to a $6.1 million settlement with Metro Church and Green's Transportation. Although the church wasn't sued, its insurer decided to settle before it was.

ABC Bus Inc. has made separate payouts to several families. Those settlement amounts are secret and known only by state District Judge Mary Murphy, who is overseeing the multi-plaintiff litigation.

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