A lawyer who specializes in wrongful death cases and car accidents has found himself at the center of such a case . . . as a criminal defendant. Scott A. Bailey, 44, allegedly crashed his Mustang into a woman’s SUV during a drag race. Kathleen “Kay” Koutroubis, 73, was fatally injured. The other man is Haven A. Sooter, 39, was driving a BMW who suffered a broken arm and a concussion in the crash.
Police say Sooter and Bailey were racing when Sooter’s BMW struck Koutroubis’ SUV first from behind and her vehicle veered into the next lane, where it was struck by Bailey’s Mustang. Koutroubis was alive at the scene and saying that she felt a pain in her abdomen. She later died of internal injuries.
Koutroubis was a grandmother known as “Yia Yia” and was driving home from feeding a home-bound friend and dropping off a bridal shower present.
Bailey is reportedly challenging the arrest as unlawful and that the arresting officer didn’t have reasonable grounds to believe Bailey was driving while intoxicated.
Is no one going to call out granny for drag racing at 73 yrs old?
I do not get the drag queen part. The guy in the photo don’t look bent. We need to clean up America and not let these lawyers come across our borders. Build a Wall. Not at Walmart. Our Convention is going on right now and Donald’s wife is supposed to speak today. We need a good looking First Lady. And for those of you who think Donald is a bigot and hates emigrants, his wife is one. Not a bigot, an emigrant. Donald is 70. This is just the right age. Hillary is too young.
Time for a change. Vote Republican. We have a choice, not an echo.
The saddest part is that our courtrooms have turned into circuses where such men are allowed to mislead, contort the meaning of the law and turn the whole idea of justice on its head. This isn’t a man willing to accept responsibility for what he did. He is a cockroach who lives in the cracks between the laws.
And they are annually one of the largest contributors to the Dem party.
Of course it’s a plaintiff’s attorney. They are the cowboys of the legal profession.
Where they really dressed in drag or not? When two bent people race to the top to look like the opposite sex then it is time for a single unit toilet room. But bent people should not drive around in convertibles wearing drag outfits. The two drivers were both concentrating on looking at the other’s outfits when the accident occurred. Bent people got no reason to live.
Tin, my grandmother’s name was “Grandma”. Her name was also “Mom”, Nora, Freda, and Mrs. R….
I must note that for once I agree with Squeeky Fromm. Doesn’t happen often
44 years old and he is acting like a stupid teenager. That is the root of the problem. People don’t seem to grow up anymore.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I am with TIN, both drivers need to be charged.
FWIW, “yia yia” is not a name; it simply means “grandmother” in Greek. And no, I’m not Greek, but had to take Greek and Latin in my Jesuit high school.
Both drivers should be charged with vehicular manslaughter. As someone who handled auto accident cases, the lawyer was certainly aware of the risks of illegal drag racing, probably more so than most people. They say that a death will effect at least 10 people, and the impact will last at least three generations. We had a horrific car crash near my house last year. Two young adults were racing on a city street, going 110 mph, and broadsided a Nissan Sentra. One of the passengers, a young woman, woke up in the hospital to two police officers having to tell her that her whole family in this country – husband, brother and five year old daughter, were dead. Both drivers were sentenced to eight years. Not to sound sexist, but I was surprised that one of the drag racers was female. I thought women had better sense than that…..In any event, such callous disregard for the safety of others is inexcusable.
From my reading of Missouri law, it seems that the state has a vague and broad approach to what would constitute reckless driving. I did not find a per se “Reckless Driving” statute though it seems the state uses a “Failure to exercise the highest degree of case, [and] causing an accident.”
The state’s Involuntary Manslaughter does specify an element for impaired driving, which the defendant states was not proven.
Many states incorporate Reckless Driving as an element of Vehicular Homicide and often that racing is considered reckless driving.
It seems that racing is sufficient to at least be considered reckless for the purpose of an involuntary manslaughter charge since criminal recklessness is an element of such a statute.
Nevertheless I would say that if the charges are proven, he might have a difficult time before the bar in explaining himself.
…but did the Mustang beat the Beemer??? DMD