Venus Williams' cellphone data to be turned over to lawyers in car crash case
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Records from Venus Williams' cellphone will be turned over to attorneys representing the family of a 78-year-old Florida man who died after a June car crash with the tennis star.
The Sun Sentinel reported Tuesday that an agreement for the records was reached prior to a court hearing in a lawsuit filed against Williams. Jerome Barson's family sought the records to find out if Williams was on the phone and distracted just prior to the crash.
Williams' lawyers said they will turn over phone records that span a two-and-a-half-hour period before and after the June 6 crash. Her lawyers say Williams wasn't distracted.
Barson died 13 days after police say Williams drove into the path of the sedan Barsons' wife was driving. Williams hasn't been cited or charged.
In July, the Palm Beach Police Department released surveillance footage of the incident, which shows the tennis star's 2010 Toyota Sequoia entering the intersection, under a green light. In the upper part of the video, she pauses briefly in the middle of the intersection, before continuing.
In a statement exonerating Williams, the department said, "the vehicle driven by Venus Williams lawfully entered the intersection on a circular green traffic signal, and attempted to travel north through the intersection to Ballenisles Drive."
Police said a car entered the intersection in front of Williams and made a left turn, causing her to stop advancing through the intersection to avoid a collision. The crash occurred when Williams started to legally proceed, CBS News correspondent Don Dahler reports.
The Barson family has filed a wrongful death suit against the seven-time Grand Slam winner seeking unspecified damages.
