PITTSBURGH – A lawsuit from a Pittsburgh whose parents were killed in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in October 2018 - against the manufacturers and seller of the weapon the perpetrator used to commit the crime, the shooter himself and the National Rifle Association - has been transferred to a state court complex litigation center.
Marc A. Simon (as Executor of the Estates of Sylvan Simon and Bernice R. Simon) of Washington County first filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Jan. 21 versus The National Rifle Association of America, Inc. of Fairfax County, Va., Colt’s Manufacturing Company, LLC and Colt Defense, LLC of West Hartford, Conn., John Doe Company and Robert Bowers of Butler County.
“On the morning of Oct. 27, 2018, members of the Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light Jewish congregations gathered to engage in religious worship at the Tree of Life Synagogue, located in Pittsburgh, when Bowers entered through the front entrance door and opened fire with his Colt AR-15 assault weapon, ultimately killing eleven congregants and wounding six others,” the suit stated.
“Bowers’ use of the unreasonably dangerous and defective Colt AR-15 forced responding officers to wait for back up while those congregants who were not killed immediately bled to death. More than an hour after the massacre began, Bowers surrendered to the police and told them: ‘I just want to kill Jews’ and ‘All these Jews need to die.”
According to the plaintiff, major gun lobbyists like the NRA have radicalized members of the public people with “white supremacist conspiracy theories”, while also asserting that Colt could have prevented the AR-15 from being modified to allow the rifle to fire more rapidly.
“Bowers was not born fearing and hating Jews. The gun lobby taught him to do that. And Colt supplied the AR-15 assault weapon he used to commit one of the bloodiest acts of domestic terrorism in United States’ history and the deadliest anti-Semitic hate crime ever on American soil,” per the suit.
“The gun lobby knows that lies like these cause some people to think violently. It knows that violent thoughts are the precursors to violent acts. And it knows that its lies increase the risk of anti-Semitic violence.”
Bowers has pleaded not guilty to 44 federal criminal counts and 29 state criminal counts leveled against him, though the state counts are being held until the completion of the federal trial. No trial date has yet been set, and federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The NRA filed for bankruptcy in January in New York State and as result, Simon’s claims against it will be stayed due to the group’s Chapter 11 financial restructuring.
UPDATE
On June 21, the NRA filed to move the case to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas’s Commerce and Complex Litigation Center, on the basis of complexity.
“All five of the factors considered in determining whether to assign a case to the CCLC are satisfied. There are multiple defendants, one of whom is in prison and may be proceeding pro se. Two defendants have already filed preliminary objections and, if they are not granted in their entirety, there is likely to be substantial motion practice in this case,” the motion stated.
“The factual and legal issues are novel and complex, and include issues related to federal statutory and common law immunity, federal firearms laws, Connecticut law, as well as Pennsylvania law regarding product liability and public nuisance. The case involves the deaths of two individuals, and punitive damages are sought in addition to compensatory damages, so the amount in controversy is likely to be substantial. Finally, if the case has to be tried, it is likely to take several weeks based on the complexity of the issues involved and the number of the parties.”
The NRA’s counsel argued that a single judge could manage the case through its conclusion and if one were not assigned, it would “require the involvement of multiple judges to decide similar motions, resulting in the unnecessary expenditure of substantial judicial resources and creating the potential for conflicting decisions.”
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine A. Ward authorized the transfer of the case to the CCLC on July 9.
For counts of survival, wrongful death, strict products liability, public nuisance, negligence, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the plaintiff is seeking damages, jointly and severally, in excess of the prevailing arbitration limits, plus interest, cost of suit, punitive damages, any other damages deemed proper by the Court and a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Robert A. Bracken of Bracken Lamberton, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants are represented by Thomas P. Pellis and Charles J. D’Angelo of Meyer Darragh Buckler Bebenek & Eck in Greensburg, Daniel S. Altschuler and Christopher D. Gee of Post & Schell in Philadelphia, plus Christopher Renzulli of Renzulli Law Firm, in White Plains, N.Y.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-011130
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com