The grandparents of Anthony Torsell, a former Penn State student convicted of vehicular homicide in the 2006 death of Richard Smith, have been dropped from a lawsuit claiming they contributed to Smith's death and the injuring of Penn State student Aaron Stidd.
Torsell, driving drunk in October 2006, hit Smith and Stidd at the intersection of Beaver Avenue and West College Avenue as they crossed College Avenue, according to police reports. The lawsuit claimed Frank and Donna Clemson, Torsell's grandparents, owned Torsell's residence in State College, where the suit alleged their grandson routinely drank illegally.
The Clemsons have maintained they never owned Torsell's residence at 313 W. Prospect Ave.
"I feel semi-vindicated," Donna Clemson said. "We should not have been sued in the first place."
Torsell was sentenced to four to eight years in prison in 2007. Torsell, his parents, his grandparents and two friends were named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in September 2008 by Richard Smith's father, Arthur Smith, who sought damages for claims of negligence and wrongful death.
Donna and Frank Clemson were believed to have "owned, possessed, and/or otherwise controlled" Torsell's West Prospect Avenue residence at the time of the accident, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleged the Clemsons "knew, or should have known, of their grandson's proclivity to hold large underage binge drinking parties at the residence" and should have prevented the residence they owned from becoming a "dangerous nuisance" to the public at large.
But in light of the fact the Clemsons do not own the property, they were dismissed from the lawsuit, Donna Clemson said.
"We did not own that property," Clemson said. "I don't know where they got that information."
Though she and her husband reside in Bellefonte, they have never owned property in State College, Clemson said.
Daniel Doyle, Arthur Smith's attorney, could not be reached for comment.
Torsell's attorney has denied all claims of the lawsuit, demanding "strict proof" of the allegations in court, according to court documents.
