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Plaintiffs to move for summary judgment in civil complaint |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
By STEVE BLAKE
Managing Editor
The attorney for Tamara McAllister and Gordon Petit will file a motion for partial summary judgment for liability in their civil complaint against Darcy Petit.
Meanwhile, the sides will participate in mediation.
Darcy Petit said over a speaker phone from prison during a pretrial
conference Wednesday he is open to mediation. He represents himself in
the suit filed against him by his cousin and his uncle.
Darcy Petit was convicted of killing his father, Samson Petit, on
November 6, 2003. He also shot and wounded his cousin, McAllister, and
her father, Gordon Petit, who are asking for compensatory and punitive
damages in their civil complaint filed in Orleans Superior Court on
November 6, 2006, three years to the day after the shooting.
Darcy Petit claims he has no recollection of the events on the day he went on a shooting rampage.
There has been no jury selection or trial scheduled, Gregory Howe, the
complainants’ lawyer said Wednesday. He said there has been some
discussion of waiving his clients’ rights to a jury trial.
Having a court trial would add flexibility for scheduling, Judge Robert Bent said.
Darcy Petit said, however, that he is not interested in waiving his right to a jury trial.
A jury trial would take two to two-and-a-half days, Howe said. If the
judge grants partial summary judgment, a ruling on the question of
Darcy Petit’s liability, a jury would only have to rule on the question
of punitive damages.
But it would not eliminate the need for all witnesses, Howe said. He
said he expects to call at least three doctors, several witnesses, and
police who were on the scene.
Judge Bent said telephone mediation has generally not proven successful. He asked if there were issues to be resolved.
“Absolutely,” Darcy Petit said. “I’m willing to go through mediation.”
Howe said that, although he has never participated in mediation in prison, he will set it up within the next month.
Meanwhile, the judge will put the case on the trial scheduling list.
The complaint says Darcy Petit shot and killed his father and then
threatened to kill McAllister and Gordon Petit as they drove down
Brown’s Hill Road.
He “violently assaulted them by firing a shotgun at them, hitting them
both, causing serious injury,” the complaint says. It does not describe
their injuries.
After he tried to kill them he followed them down the road where the
victims looked for safety in a home, according to the complaint. But
Darcy Petit forced his way into the home with the shotgun, fired
several shots and threatened to kill them and others in the home. He
held everyone hostage for several hours firing the gun inside the home,
the complaint says.
The hostages were finally able to overpower him and take the gun away from him while the police moved in.
As a result of Darcy Petit’s actions McAllister and Gordon Petit
suffered physical, emotional, and mental injuries, some of which are
permanent, the complaint says. It asks for compensatory damages for
their injuries; past, present, and future pain and suffering; past,
present and future loss of enjoyable life; and past, present and future
mental anguish.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 April 2008 )
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