Crash victim’s family demands Venus Williams hand over cell phone

The family of the 78-year-old man who was killed in a car accident involving Venus Williams last year is demanding the tennis star turn over her cell phone that they claim she was using moments before the crash.

Court documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal Jerome Barson’s estate has filed a motion to subpoena all phone devices Venus had in her possession on June 9, 2017 and conduct a forensic inspection on them.  

The athlete became embroiled in a wrongful death lawsuit after she allegedly caused a car accident while driving in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida that resulted in the death of the retiree.

Mr Barson’s wife, Linda Barson was driving and approaching an intersection when Venus darted in and caused Mrs Barson to T-bone her car, according to reports.

Venus Williams, 37, (pictured at the Italian Open last month) is being ordered to hand over her cell phone for inspection after she allegedly caused a car accident last year 

Venus has been embroiled in a wrongful death lawsuit brought on by the family of Jerome Barson (pictured) 78, who died after the tennis star slammed into his wife Linda Barson's (pictured right) car on June 9, 2017

Jerome Barson

Venus has been embroiled in a wrongful death lawsuit brought on by the family of Jerome Barson (pictured) 78, who died after the tennis star slammed into his wife Linda Barson’s (pictured left) car on June 9, 2017

The lawsuit states the 37-year-old tennis champ has alleged that a third party, Lauren Dowd-Shedlock made a left turn in front of her that caused Venus to be caught in the intersection when the light turned red.

Video footage of the crash shows that Dowd-Shedlock did, in fact, make a left turn, but Venus was delayed in moving forward by about four seconds.

‘Accordingly, it will be the plaintiff’s contention that Ms Dowd-Shedlock made her left turn and the [Venus] was ultimately present in the intersection on a red light as a result of the [Venus’s] own negligent delay in moving her vehicle forward and entering the intersection,’ court papers state. 

Barson’s estate had previously demanded phone records and data usage from Venus’s device – to which the athlete had objected – to determine whether or not she had been using it at the time. 

AT&T provided records which showed that during the one hour period commencing at 12.27pm, Venus phone uploaded 881,646 bytes of data and downloaded 4,292,331 bytes of data.  

Additionally, during the one hour period commencing on 12.46 pm, Venus uploaded 12,424 bytes of date and downloaded 11,204 bytes of data. 

Photos of Barson's Hyundai Accent show the car was totaled after Venus t-boned it 

Photos of Barson’s Hyundai Accent show the car was totaled after Venus t-boned it 

Linda Barson was driving with her husband in the passenger's seat when the crash occurred

Linda Barson was driving with her husband in the passenger’s seat when the crash occurred

The tennis star has claimed the driver in front of her made a left turn which caused Venus to be stranded at the intersection when the light turned red

The tennis star has claimed the driver in front of her made a left turn which caused Venus to be stranded at the intersection when the light turned red

The accident took place at approximately 1.11pm. 

But the family claims they now need to determine whether the reference data usage on Venus phone actually occurred during the seconds leading up to and/or including the subject crash, and whether such data was used passively on her phone due to an open running application, or if it was instead the result of her actively using her phone.    

‘In the event the phone was wiped clean subsequent to the crash, the plaintiff’s expert may need to examine the data stored on the cloud account to which the phone was backed up,’ court documents read.    

According to the wrongful death lawsuit, Mrs Barson is seeking loss of companionship, loss of earnings, pain and suffering and medical and funeral expenses.

Police listed Williams as the person at fault in the accident, but so far there is no evidence she was distracted or under the influence. 

Mrs Barson was taken to the hospital and was treated for broken bones and other injuries.

Her husband suffered a fractured spine, massive internal organ damage, and internal bleeding. He died at the hospital on June 22, two weeks after the incident.

 

 



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