text: N.J. ruling backs club in fatal car crash
  The state Supreme Court said servers of alcohol can't be held liable if a patron is not visibly intoxicated.
  TRENTON - The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a Burlington County club that hosted a picnic where guests served themselves from a beer truck was not liable in a fatal accident that followed, because the driver did not appear to be intoxicated when he left.
  The plaintiff was Diane M. Mazzacano, the widow of Stephen Mikalic, one of four men killed in the Aug. 17, 2002, crash on Route 73 in Maple Shade. She argued that the Happy Hour Social and Athletic Club of Maple Shade, among others, should be held liable because the club had a duty to monitor the service of alcohol.
  The court ruled Thursday that according to state law, a licensed alcoholic beverage server is negligent only if it provided alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person or a minor.
  Witnesses testified that John Kinnerman did not appear drunk when he left the party with Mikalic and two other friends. Shortly afterward, Kinnerman lost control of his 1971 Ford Mustang and crashed into a van traveling in the opposite direction. He and his passengers died; the van driver was seriously injured.
  An autopsy found that Kinnerman's blood alcohol content was 0.181 percent, almost double the legal definition of drunken driving at the time.
  Kenneth D. McPherson Jr., Mazzacano's appeals attorney, said the decision "seems to validate the defense tactic of not posting bartenders, not watching the drinkers. The result of the decision seems to be that [the server would be] better off not watching."
  In his opinion, Justice Barry Albin wrote that "the Legislature is free to enact higher standards - such as a duty to monitor - than those presently found in our statutes. . . ." The decision was unanimous.
  Terrence J. Bolan, an attorney for the club, said the case boiled down to whether Kinnerman appeared to be intoxicated.
  "Lots of people saw him that day and saw him leaving. They all said he didn't appear to be intoxicated," Bolan said. "If, an hour before he left, he was stumbling or slurring or fighting, then there would have been liability of the bar."
  "Nothing about this decision will change the way businesses operate," Bolan said.