A French court has acquitted a couple of all criminal charges for allowing a dinner guest to drive home drunk.
The dinner guest, Frederic Colin, was subsequently involved in an accident that killed four people.
If found guilty, Angelique and Jean-Sebastian Fraisse of Nancy, France, could have faced a fine and prison sentence, the BBC reported Tuesday.
The couple said they tried to keep Colin from driving, but he became aggressive and insisted upon leaving. He drove the wrong way on a road and crashed into another car carrying a family of five. Only a five-year-old girl in the other car survived.
The prosecution said because the accused couple met after both had been the victims of drunken drivers, both should have been more aware of the risks of allowing their friend to drive after a long night of drinking.
Angelique Fraisse has been paralyzed from her waist down since she was struck by a car at age 16.
The BBC said the case had divided France, where drunken driving is becoming socially unacceptable. French bar owners can already be held legally responsible if they allow a drunken customer to drive.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
