Fresno Family Awarded $56.5 Million After Daughter Killed in DUI Crash

Tim Buchanan and Julie Olson-Buchanan, well-known figures in Fresno's legal and academic communities, were awarded $56.5 million by an Athens-Clarke County, Georgia judge on March 29 after the 2023 drunk-driving death of their daughter Beth, a University of Georgia Ph.D. student.

Beth was killed in February 2023 in a wrong-way, high-speed crash allegedly caused by Cesar Raudales Macias. The judgment came after Macias was formally defaulted in the civil case, meaning the court proceeded without him to calculate the value of Beth's life under Georgia law. Macias remains a fugitive, currently sought by U.S. Marshals.

For Tim Buchanan, a Fresno attorney at McCormick Barstow, and Julie Olson-Buchanan, the dean of the Craig School of Business at Fresno State, the verdict represents a painful but significant legal milestone. In a statement, the couple said they were "absolutely devastated" and acknowledged the award is "largely symbolic," calling it an important legal acknowledgment of the harm inflicted on their family.

Rob Snyder of Cannella Snyder, the family's attorney, described the judgment as formal recognition of Beth's extraordinary life and "an important first step toward accountability."

The practical limits of the judgment are considerable. Because Macias is at large, the $56.5 million civil obligation cannot be enforced until he is located and his assets identified, or until other legal remedies are secured. The Athens-Clarke County hearing was confined entirely to quantifying damages; criminal prosecution and extradition proceedings continue on a separate track.

The family is urging anyone with information about Macias's whereabouts to contact Atlanta Crime Stoppers, where a reward of up to $15,000 remains available for tips leading to his arrest.

For Fresno, where Tim Buchanan is known through McCormick Barstow and Julie Olson-Buchanan leads the Craig School of Business, the case has drawn sustained local attention to the gap between a civil verdict and actual justice: a court can put $56.5 million on a life, but without the defendant in custody, that number stays on paper.