Sugarland attorneys partly blames fans

INDIANAPOLIS -- Attorneys for country duo Sugarland said concertgoers were at least partly to blame for injuries suffered in a stage collapse, drawing a sharp reaction from fans yesterday and prompting the band's manager to issue a statement criticizing the finger-pointing.

Members of the band expressed shock and sadness after last summer's stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair killed seven people and injured dozens more.

But in their response to a civil lawsuit, the band's attorneys said injured fans "failed to exercise due care for their own safety" and contended some or all of their injuries "resulted from their own fault."

The comments outraged Haley Waggoner of Cincinnati, who was in the front row with her twin sister and suffered a concussion that caused headaches and other problems for weeks.

"It disgusts me," said Waggoner, who has attended eight or nine Sugarland shows. "Through this whole process, I don't feel like the band cares that much about fans."

The band's attorneys also called the high winds that toppled the stage rigging an "act of God" and denied the band had any responsibility for the stage construction or to warn fans.

Waggoner said while the band couldn't control the weather and didn't build the stage, she believes Sugarland could have done more to warn concertgoers of the impending danger. She said she'll never see them live again.

Indianapolis attorney Carl Brizzi, who is representing the widow of Glenn Goodrich, a security guard killed in the collapse, said he was outraged that the band tried to distance itself from the tragedy.

Sugarland attorney James H. Milstone would not elaborate yesterday on the response to the civil lawsuit.