One Sunday evening in the autumn of 1992, Cook and some friends were driving back to Manhattan after spending the day at a game farm in the Catskill Mountains. Cook's friend, Frank Serrano, was driving a 1985 Dodge Aries, which Serrano had recently purchased at an auction. Also in the car were Serrano's wife and mother-in-law, as well as his infant son. Cook is an American citizen; Serrano and his family are citizens of Nicaragua. (Serrano and his family were originally co-plaintiffs in this action, but withdrew their complaint when they returned to Nicaragua.)