A fatal one-car traffic crash two years ago in Hilo has resulted in a Michigan woman being sued by the estate of her late mother, her husband and siblings.
Hilo attorney Paul Hamano filed the civil lawsuit March 5 in Hilo Circuit Court on behalf of the estate of Feliza P. Padilla; Pacita P.P. Poe, Joseph P. Padilla, Pedro P. Padilla Jr., James J. Gamiao Sr. and Alfred Gamiao, all children of the late woman; and James Robert Failing, the husband of the defendant, Marina Failing.
According to the lawsuit, Marina Failing, then 68, was driving a 1990 Oldsmobile sedan owned by her mother mauka on the 800 block of Kaiwiki Road when she ran off the right side of the road and struck a utility pole.
Marina Failing; her then-71-year-old husband, James Failing, who was in the front passenger seat; and her 93-year-old mother, Feliza Padilla, were taken by ambulance to Hilo Medical Center.
Marina Failing and Padilla were later flown to The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where Padilla died at 6:27 p.m. March 8, 2016, according to police.
Police said at the time they didn’t suspect alcohol or drug use but didn’t know if the car’s occupants were wearing their seat belts.
According to the lawsuit, James Failing suffered fractures of the left knee and left thumb, neck and body injuries and “continues to incur pain, impairment, emotional and mental distress … significant permanent loss of use of a part of function of the body and … serious disfigurement… .”
The plaintiffs seek general and special damages, attorney fees and costs from Marina Failing, claiming she was driving “negligently, carelessly, without due care and/or inattentively” when the car struck the telephone pole.
Police initiated a negligent homicide investigation in the case but have not filed criminal charges.
A Wednesday phone call to Hamano wasn’t returned by press time.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.
