A Palm Beach County jury found artist Lynn Chandler Novick liable for a 2014 car crash that injured a local businessman. The jury awarded compensatory and punitive damages after police testified that Novick was intoxicated at the scene with alcohol and Vicodin in her system. Novick had previously pled guilty to reckless driving for the accident. The plaintiff's lawyer hoped the verdict would deter drunk driving, which poses an increased risk when combined with prescription drugs.

1. Palm Beach Jury finds noted Boca Raton artist
Lynn Chandler Novick liable for drunk driving
crash; awards punitive damages.
by Jennifer Aniston's, August 20, 2015
Palm Beach County; October 2, 2015. After four days of trial, a Palm Beach County jury returned a
verdict finding Palm Beach County artist Lynne Chandler Novick liable for compensatory and
punitive damages for a January 28, 2014 automobile crash which resulted in injuries to local business
executive and father of three, Alexander Vargas.
During the trial which lasted four days officers from the Boca Raton police department testified that
alcohol was found spilled on the interior of the vehicle at the scene of the accident. Police also
testified that Ms. Novick was intoxicated at the scene, flunked a DUI roadside examination, and may
have had family members attempt to conceal evidence of alcohol at the scene. Subsequent
breathalyzer and urinalysis tests administered by the Palm Beach County Police Department detected
the presence of Vicodin and alcohol in Ms. Novick’s system shortly after the crash.
According to the trial attorney for the Plaintiff, Raymond R. Dieppa, “South Florida has a huge
problem with drunk drivers, when these drivers add prescription narcotics such as Vicodin to the mix
the risk to the public increases exponentially. We feel the jury recognized the reckless nature of Ms.
Novick’s actions and because of that elected to award both compensatory and punitive damages,
consistent with a finding that Ms. Novick was intoxicated. “We can only hope the jury’s verdict deters
this conduct in the future” stated Dieppa.Ms. Novick had previously plead guilty to a charge of
reckless driving arising out of the subject accident.
At the time of publication Ms. Novick and her attorneys could not be reached for comment.
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