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PROVO -- A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed over the killing rampage at the Trolley Square mall.
After hearing arguments in 4th District Court on Monday, Judge Fred Howard denied a request by Rocky Mountain Enterprises and Westley Wayne Hill to dismiss a lawsuit filed by shooting-spree survivor Stacy Hanson. In his ruling, the judge said the issues raised by both sides are something to be determined at trial.
Lawyers for Rocky Montain Enterprises, which owns Sportsman's Fast Cash Pawn, argue there is no way anyone could have foreseen what Sulejman Talovic was going to do when he purchased a pistol-grip shotgun from Hill three months before the shooting.
"It's a tragedy, and our heart goes out to the victims in this case and to all those who suffered as a result of these actions on Feb. 12, 2007," attorney Nathan Crane told KSL NewsRadio. "But the fact is my clients were not responsible for that horrible crime."
In court, Crane argued that the pistol-grip shotgun was not an illegal sale. He said the gun, which was sold as a pistol grip, could be modified with a shoulder stock. That would make it legal to sell to the 18-year-old Talovic.
However, Hanson's attorney, Richard Burbidge, argued it was illegal for Hill to sell a pistol grip shotgun to an 18-year-old. "This isn't a gun rights case. We're strictly enforcing the laws on the books," he told KSL NewsRadio outside of court. "This gun is lethal and illegal, and that buyer was incompetent."
Burbidge claims because of their actions in making an illegal sale, Hill and the pawn shop could only foresee that Talovic was going to use that particular weapon for carnage.
Five people were killed and four people wounded when Talovic opened fire at the Trolley Square mall. Hanson was shot inside a card shop and survived, but he remains in a wheelchair. His lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Hanson's lawsuit mirrors one filed by another survivor of the shooting spree, Carolyn Tuft. Her daughter, 15-year-old Kirsten Hinckley, was killed. A judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court already ruled against a motion to dismiss that lawsuit.
Hill pleaded guilty in federal court to a misdemeanor paperwork violation in connection with the shotgun sale.
Another man, Mackenzie Hunter, was convicted of illegally selling a handgun to Talovic. Talovic was shot and killed by police.
E-mail: bwinslow@ksl.com
