Geets settled even though video surveillance showed Canale did not appear to be stumbling or falling down drunk, said Daniel Mann of Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig in Philadelphia, who represented the plaintiffs along with Bethany Nikitenko of the same firm. But she displayed impaired mathematical skills when she added a tip to a credit card receipt, Mann said.

Daniel Mann, left, and Bethany Nikitenko, right, of Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig. Courtesy photos

And a toxicology expert opined that Canale had the equivalent of 11.5 drinks, based on her blood alcohol concentration after the accident and her body weight, said Mann.

The surveillance video shows Canale was served seven glasses of pinot grigio, but it's possible that servers poured larger portions than the standard size, said Mann.

"It's fair to say that Geets and the carriers recognized in cases like this where there are high levels of intoxication, a jury would absolutely conclude that the patron was visibly intoxicated," said Mann.

The other driver, 36-year-old Kristin Susini, sustained fractures to her torso, leg and arm that required multiple surgical procedures, her lawyers said. Her son, Callan, then 4, suffered leg and facial fractures that left him with a misshapen and scarred face, and he also required multiple surgeries, the plaintiffs' lawyers said. Susini's daughter, Orla, then 2, was also in the car but was not injured.

The settlement includes $6 million from Geets, its policy limit, and $500,000 from Canale's auto insurance policy. The settlement with Geets was reached Thursday, following mediation with Diane Welsh, a former U.S. magistrate judge now with JAMS.

The lawyer for Geets, Michael Lynch of the Law Offices of Linda Baumann in East Windsor, New Jersey, declined to comment on the settlement.

Additional Hour of Surveillance Video

According to the suit, Canale visited Geets at 5:21 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2019, and video surveillance produced in discovery shows her embracing a female server and then a male bartender. The interactions shown in the video make it clear that Canale was a regular at the establishment and well-known to the staff, the suit said.

At one point, Canale was given a bill for $54.04, which she paid with a credit card, the suit claims. She added a $15 tip and then wrote in $49.04 for the total.

"The only reasonable and plausible explanation for such impaired mathematics is that Ms. Canale was significantly intoxicated to the point of confusion when she signed the receipt at 6:57 p.m. Any properly trained server would have recognized this obvious sign of impairment," the plaintiffs' lawyers said in a mediation statement.

Canale then left the establishment, and several times counsel for Geets represented that that was the end of the video footage of her that evening.

But after "persistent follow-up," an additional hour of surveillance video was produced, the plaintiffs' lawyers said in their mediation statement. The additional footage shows Canale then moved to an outdoor seating area, where she remained until 7:20 p.m., the plaintiffs' mediation statement said. It's unclear if she were served any drinks there. Canale then went to the bar, where the video showed she was served four more glasses of pinot grigio in a 45-minute period, the mediation statement said.

The surveillance video shows that Canale became more animated as time went by, the plaintiffs' mediation statement said.

"Toward the end of the evening she was boisterous and aggressively used her hands during conversations. The evidence confirms that Denise Canale was visibly intoxicated when she was served alcohol at Geets Bar on the evening of Aug. 21, 2019. It is also beyond dispute that the owners and servers were aware of the amount of alcohol she was served, and that they overpoured for this regular good customer with whom they had a friendly relationship," the plaintiffs claimed.

A few minutes after she got in her car and left the establishment, she struck the rear of Susini's car, which was parked on the shoulder with its hazard lights on. The crash caused Susini's car to burst into flames, the mediation statement said. A nearby resident put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Lynch, the lawyer for Geets, said the record showed that Canale "is the sole cause of the motor vehicle accident based upon her efforts, post-motor vehicle accident, to obfuscate the amount of alcohol she ingested prior to the accident as set forth in statements she made to the police officers responding to the scene of the accident; the healthcare providers treating her in the emergency room following the accident; and in sworn statements to the court during her plea and sentencing hearing," Lynch said in a mediation statement.

But the plaintiffs' lawyers said the accident "would not have occurred absent the negligence and recklessness of Geets Bar and its employees, who had the clear and unequivocal duty to protect against this very set of circumstances," the plaintiffs' mediation statement said. "Ms. Canale was served overly generous pours of Pino Grigio on numerous occasions while she was visibly intoxicated."