STUART, Fla. — The case against an affluent couple accused of failing to prevent underage drinking at a barbecue they hosted reached its highest pitch Friday.

Although few new details were revealed in the wrongful-death suit against Barbara and John O'Brien, the jury witnessed the anguish of the families most affected by an alcohol-related car crash that killed two teenage girls on June 17, 2002.

"I didn't know that this accident was going to happen," Barbara O'Brien testified through sobs. "But I really felt at that time it was the right thing to do as a parent."

After 16-year-old Stephen Bromstrup and two friends left the O'Briens' home, Bromstrup skidded through a stop sign and careened into a speeding Cadillac carrying four people. Sarah Stone, 14, and Alexandra Quaroni, 13, died at the scene. The driver and one passenger survived.

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Bromstrup, who testified he drank three beers plus a few borrowed sips the night of the accident, said he was just showing off and that alcohol played no role in the crash.

According to the Martin County Medical Center, Bromstrup's blood-alcohol level was 0.077 shortly after the accident and .041 several hours later. Both results are below Florida's legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Elizabeth Stone, who with her husband Tim is suing the O'Briens over the death of their daughter Sarah, excused herself from the courtroom Friday and sobbed audibly outside the courtroom doors.

The O'Briens' teenage daughter, Jenny, also left in tears during her mother's testimony.

Co-defendant John O'Brien followed his wife to the stand and again portrayed himself as an earnest, hardworking man who dropped out of college and started a family business.

The O'Briens own Gulfstream Aluminum and Shutter Corporation, which is based in Stuart.

O'Brien estimated that, on a strictness scale of one to 10, he was about an 8.5 with his children.

"I go by the guidelines," O'Brien said, "do what's best for the kids."

O'Brien said that, even though his wife had told him she'd confiscated alcohol from the teens, he believed the drinking had stopped when he arrived at the house.

"Kids wouldn't be crossing me because I am sure that my daughter informed them that I can go from zero to red in an instant," O'Brien said.

Three teens who attended the 2002 pool party also testified, each offering a slightly different account of the drinking they witnessed and how it was handled.

When asked if the O'Briens did everything they could to stop underage drinking, Christina Jones, a close friend of Jenny O'Brien, responded, "I guess not."

But when questioned further by the O'Briens' attorney, William Reese, Jones said she did not see any reason for the party to be stopped or parents to be called.

"Everything that they saw, they dumped out," Jones told the jury.

Another partygoer, Drew McLean, testified that, although he did not see Barbara O'Brien dump any alcohol, she made it clear that it was not permitted.

"She made an announcement that there wasn't any alcohol allowed at this party," McLean said.

Guy Rubin, attorney for the plaintiffs, appeared to undermine McLean's credibility when he read from the teen's sworn deposition taken in January 2003.

"After she found the bottle, she was just like, 'I hope these kids aren't driving home,'" Rubin quoted McLean. "And she was asking Jenny, like, 'Who's driving?', but I don't remember exactly what happened."

The O'Briens are being sued in a civil court under a criminal statute, Florida's "Open House Party" law, which is designed to deter underage drinking. The O'Briens' attorney has twice asked that the case be dismissed, arguing the law does not apply to civil suits.

Senior Circuit Court Judge Charles Smith rejected the motion on the grounds that two appellate courts have allowed civil suits to be filed under criminal statutes.

No criminal cases, relating to the accident, have gone to trial. Bromstrup avoided a trial by pleading no contest to two counts of vehicular homicide and four counts of culpable negligence. Although he was sentenced as an adult, Bromstrup, now 19, is serving a seven-year sentence in a juvenile facility.

The jury will hear closing arguments Monday in the 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Martin County. The trial is being streamed live on Court TV Extra.