cuchulainn
April 15, 2003, 07:25 PM
from the Tucson Citizen
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/4_15_03pizza_hut.htmlDenial in Pizza Hut deaths
Parents of two murdered in East Side restaurant lose bid to make Austrian gun maker pay.
LARRY COPENHAVER
Tucson Citizen
April 15, 2003
The parents of two employees killed at a Tucson Pizza Hut have lost their third and final bid in a wrongful-death lawsuit against a gun maker and distributor and a local gun-show promoter.
The Arizona Supreme Court decided March 18 not to take up the case, ending a court battle against Austrian gun maker Glock GmbH; the U.S. distributor, Glock Inc.; and McMann's Roadrunner Inc., the gun show promoter who organized the Tucson Convention Center show where the parents say the gun was purchased.
Dan and Barbara Bloxham, parents of 17-year-old James Bloxham, and Dianna Spalding, the mother of Melisa Moniz, 20, filed the suit in January 2001 for unspecified damages in Pima County Superior Court.
James Bloxham, Moniz and restaurant manager Robert Curry, 44, were shot to death with a Glock semiautomatic pistol on Jan. 17, 1999, at an East Side Pizza Hut.
Kajornsak "Tom" Prasertphong, then 19, and Christopher "Bo" Huerstel, then 17, were convicted of the killings March 16, 2001.
In August 2001, Superior Court Judge Ted B. Borek ruled the lawsuit was "devoid of any allegations that establishes the special kind of relationship between either Glock or McMann's to control the action of (the killers) or protect (the victims)."
After the Arizona Court of Appeals declined to hear the case, the attorneys unsuccessfully appealed to the state's highest court.
Dan Bloxham was not surprised. "We wanted to do something to make it less easy to happen again," he said. "There was hope, not especially of winning, but of setting a precedent that would require tighter controls on gun sales in the state."
The Second Amendment Foundation applauded the decision.
"This case was just one more attempt by anti-gun attorneys in the pursuit of headlines and their own political agenda to give false hope to the survivors of murder victims," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue, Wash., organization.
"Courts consistently have agreed that gun makers cannot be held liable for the criminal acts of people who misuse their products."
The National Rifle Association also hailed the Arizona Supreme Court decision.
"This decision is another blow to the gun-ban lobby, who has pushed these reckless lawsuits in a futile attempt to achieve what they have failed to accomplish in state legislatures and in Congress," said the NRA's chief lobbyist, Chris Cox.
Spalding, Moniz's mother and a gun owner, said she has no desire to ban guns, but questions characterizing the Supreme Court action as a victory for gun owners. "I see this as a victory for criminals, not gun owners," Spalding said.
"I am a gun owner, and I've done shooting, and my son did shooting," said Dan Bloxham. "One of the reasons we shot is to learn how to handle guns. We just don't want other people to go through all this."
Both Prasertphong's and Huerstel's death sentences are in limbo.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that it was unconstitutional for judges in capital cases to evaluate aggravating factors, Arizona and eight other states had to change their procedures.
Here the Legislature turned the responsibility over to juries. Now, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is deciding whether the ruling applies retroactively.
Copyright © 2003 Tucson Citizen
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/4_15_03pizza_hut.htmlDenial in Pizza Hut deaths
Parents of two murdered in East Side restaurant lose bid to make Austrian gun maker pay.
LARRY COPENHAVER
Tucson Citizen
April 15, 2003
The parents of two employees killed at a Tucson Pizza Hut have lost their third and final bid in a wrongful-death lawsuit against a gun maker and distributor and a local gun-show promoter.
The Arizona Supreme Court decided March 18 not to take up the case, ending a court battle against Austrian gun maker Glock GmbH; the U.S. distributor, Glock Inc.; and McMann's Roadrunner Inc., the gun show promoter who organized the Tucson Convention Center show where the parents say the gun was purchased.
Dan and Barbara Bloxham, parents of 17-year-old James Bloxham, and Dianna Spalding, the mother of Melisa Moniz, 20, filed the suit in January 2001 for unspecified damages in Pima County Superior Court.
James Bloxham, Moniz and restaurant manager Robert Curry, 44, were shot to death with a Glock semiautomatic pistol on Jan. 17, 1999, at an East Side Pizza Hut.
Kajornsak "Tom" Prasertphong, then 19, and Christopher "Bo" Huerstel, then 17, were convicted of the killings March 16, 2001.
In August 2001, Superior Court Judge Ted B. Borek ruled the lawsuit was "devoid of any allegations that establishes the special kind of relationship between either Glock or McMann's to control the action of (the killers) or protect (the victims)."
After the Arizona Court of Appeals declined to hear the case, the attorneys unsuccessfully appealed to the state's highest court.
Dan Bloxham was not surprised. "We wanted to do something to make it less easy to happen again," he said. "There was hope, not especially of winning, but of setting a precedent that would require tighter controls on gun sales in the state."
The Second Amendment Foundation applauded the decision.
"This case was just one more attempt by anti-gun attorneys in the pursuit of headlines and their own political agenda to give false hope to the survivors of murder victims," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue, Wash., organization.
"Courts consistently have agreed that gun makers cannot be held liable for the criminal acts of people who misuse their products."
The National Rifle Association also hailed the Arizona Supreme Court decision.
"This decision is another blow to the gun-ban lobby, who has pushed these reckless lawsuits in a futile attempt to achieve what they have failed to accomplish in state legislatures and in Congress," said the NRA's chief lobbyist, Chris Cox.
Spalding, Moniz's mother and a gun owner, said she has no desire to ban guns, but questions characterizing the Supreme Court action as a victory for gun owners. "I see this as a victory for criminals, not gun owners," Spalding said.
"I am a gun owner, and I've done shooting, and my son did shooting," said Dan Bloxham. "One of the reasons we shot is to learn how to handle guns. We just don't want other people to go through all this."
Both Prasertphong's and Huerstel's death sentences are in limbo.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that it was unconstitutional for judges in capital cases to evaluate aggravating factors, Arizona and eight other states had to change their procedures.
Here the Legislature turned the responsibility over to juries. Now, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is deciding whether the ruling applies retroactively.
Copyright © 2003 Tucson Citizen