July 11, 2008

For the first time ever, two band mates of Tejano singer Emilio Navaira speak out. The band members are suing Emilio's company. The lawsuit stems from a tour bus crash in Houston back in March. It left Emilio badly hurt and the band members also suffered serious injuries.  The band mates are being represented by 3 Corpus Christi law firms, Watts, Guajardo, and Huerta. The band members say its not about going after Emilio,himself, but about doing whats right to take care of themselves.

It was a devastating accident, David Jones with Watts Law Firm says is the reason behind a lawsuit against Emilio Inc. We sat down with the Corpus Christi attorney as well as his clients, Eddie Perez. and Daniel Sandoval who are band mates on the bus.  Eddie's grandfather Pedro was there too, and is also listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Their attorney says the accident left the men injured, physically and emotionally and kept them from getting back to work.  The men claim the 100 thousand dollar policy on the bus did not meet the minimum requirement under state and federal law and was not enough to cover medical bills for everyone on the bus.

Jones says the way to target the insurance company is to sue the actual entity who owned the bus, Emilio Inc.  Emilio Navaira is said to have had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for driving. In the original petition obtained by 3 news, negligence against the defendant includes driving while intoxicated. However, band mates say the lawsuit is not about going after Navaira.  Eddie Perez, a guitar player in Emilio's group called Rio said, "We're still family, to me this has nothing to do with him, I just want to make sure we do everything we can to take care of ourselves."  The process of getting the case to court could take about year according to the attorney.

Bill Churchwell 3 News