Alabama Bar, Ex-officer Must Pay Millions for Roles in Crash

A jury has found that an Ensley, Ala., nightclub and a former Birmingham police officer must pay millions of dollars in damages for their roles in the death of a church music minister killed in a 2009 car crash.

WBRC-TV reports that a Jefferson County jury returned the verdicts Wednesday against Club Volcano and James Lenoir Kendrick.

Club Volcano must pay $37 million and the former officer must pay $3.25 million in damages in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of 35-year-old Derric Rush.

Al.com reports that Kendrick was convicted in 2011 of reckless manslaughter. Authorities say Kendrick, who was off-duty at the time, rammed into Rush’s car on Interstate 20/59. His family maintains in the lawsuit that Kendrick was drinking at Club Volcano the night of the wreck.