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COURTS Dispatcher's family files suit over deadly crash Karen Greenstein killed by wrongway driver on I-5 Comment By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 3:52 PM Updated Jun 4, 2015 at 6:18 PM By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 3:52 PM Updated Jun 4, 2015 at 6:18 PM » Social News The family of a Jackson County radio dispatcher killed by a drunk driver in a head-on collision in 2014 has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against both the driver and the state of Oregon. The complaint, filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on behalf of Karen Greenstein's estate, names both Richard Webster Scott Jr. and the state as defendants. The suit alleges the state was negligent in issuing Scott a driver's license and seeks just under $10 million in non-economic damages, future earnings and funeral costs. Police say Scott, 43, was driving north in the right, southbound lane on Interstate 5 near Phoenix when his Dodge Caravan collided with Greenstein's Honda Civic at about 3 a.m. March 27, 2014. Scott has been charged with first-degree manslaughter, reckless endangering, reckless driving and felony driving while under the influence of intoxicants. Scott, who has been held at the Oregon State Hospital since July 2014 pending further evaluation, is scheduled for a pre-trial conference June 29. Greenstein's estate is being represented by Salem lawyer Carl Amala, who said the claim against the state of Oregon is based on the plaintiff's belief that the Department of Motor Vehicles was negligent in issuing Scott a driver's license. The complaint says Oregon law prohibits the DMV from issuing driver's licenses to people who have had their driving privileges curtailed in other states. Amala said Scott apparently had his privileges suspended or revoked in California for alcohol-related offenses and in one case spent time in prison. "The state of Oregon issued a driver's license to Mr. Scott when he shouldn't have been issued a license," he said.  The probable-cause affidavit for Scott's arrest remains sealed under court order, but Amala said his experts determined Scott was extremely intoxicated at the time of the crash. "It looks like his blood-alcohol level was well over 0.2 at the time of the incident," he said. It is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or greater. A gas station attendant in Grants Pass had called police to report Scott as an intoxicated driver about a half hour before the crash, saying he was stumbling and slurring his speech before he drove away from the pump. Police searched the freeway in the Grants Pass area, but were unable to locate him. Investigators said they believe Scott turned around at the Talent I-5 interchange and headed north in the wrong lane, leading him into Greenstein's path. Greenstein, 58, was a longtime dispatcher for Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon who had been named ECSO's Dispatcher of the Year in 2011 and had been nominated several times for International Public Safety Communications Telecommunicator of the Year. A crowd of about 500 people, many of them police and other emergency services workers, attended her memorial service. If convicted of first-degree manslaughter, Scott faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison under Measure 11 guidelines. Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471 or  [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 4, 2015 at 3:52 PM Updated Jun 4, 2015 at 6:18 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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