Murder One by Robert Dugoni Read Free Book Online Page A

ASHINGTON
    Barclay spoke as soon as Carolyn closed the door to the conference room behind her. “I want to sue Filyp Vasiliev for wrongful death.”
    “What?” Sloane asked.
    “That’s the idea that came to me this morning. Am I crazy?”
    “The drug dealer?”
    Reid paced near the floor-to-ceiling windows. “This morning I read a case in the Law Journal: a mother in California, unhappy with the sentence a judge handed down to a drug dealer who supplied her son drugs, sued him in a civil suit.”
    “What was the cause of action?”
    “Intentional tort and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She alleged he was responsible for her son’s addiction and should be held responsible for all of his medical bills and the cost of rehab.”
    Sloane tried not to sound skeptical. “How did it turn out?”
    “It hasn’t gone to trial and likely won’t ever get that far. They’ll settle, I’m sure, but that’s not a possibility for me. Carly’s dead. No amount of money will bring her back. I won’t settle.”
    Sloane knew of celebrated cases in which criminal defendants had been sued in civil court for wrongful death. The most infamous, of course, was the $33 million verdict against O. J. Simpson following his acquittal of the murder of his wife, Nicole, and her boyfriend, Ron Goldman. The standard of proof in civil cases obligated a plaintiff to prove a defendant guilty by a “preponderance of the evidence,” or 51 percent. The burden was far less onerous than the criminal standard of “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
    “Has it ever been done?”
    “I don’t know. But who better to blaze that trail than you?” She paced again. “I had an associate do some preliminary research this morning. Remember I mentioned how some states have enacted drug dealer liability acts?”
    “You said Washington doesn’t have one.”
    “It doesn’t. But this is the same concept; if you can sue a drug dealer in a civil action for an intentional tort, why not for wrongful death?”
    Reid was not a typical potential client. Still, Sloane felt compelled to determine if she had thought the matter through. He tried to slow the pace of the conversation. “Assuming for a moment that we have a viable cause of action, you know there’s an argument that Carly assumed the risk of injury by ingesting a dangerous drug.”
    Reid stopped pacing. “My daughter didn’t choose to be addicted. Before she hurt her back, she didn’t even take aspirin. She was a fitness freak. Her addiction wasn’t her fault.”
    “You’re preaching to the choir.”
    She took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
    “All I’m saying is that Vasiliev’s lawyers will argue that the potential of dying from the use of heroin is a known risk.” Reid started to interrupt, but he raised a hand to allow him to finish. “They’ll bring up Carly’s drug history and drag her past through the mud. It could be painful.”
    Reid had the same determined look Sloane recalled from the courtroom, a woman not to be denied. “It won’t be any more painful than having to identify my daughter’s body in a morgue. I’m numb to the pain, David. I’ve been numb since I received that first phone call. This morning is the first time in a long time that I’ve had hope that maybe Carly didn’t have to die in vain.”
    “And they’ll argue that the man who supplied Carly with drugs is in jail.”
    “He’s just a pawn.”
    “He’s the dealer.”
    “ He doesn’t exist if guys like Vasiliev aren’t importing it.”
    “Neither does Vasiliev if there aren’t guys supplying him. How high up does this go? Where do we stop?”
    “I want Vasiliev. I’ll worry about those above him after I get him.”
    “He hasn’t been convicted of anything.”
    “He walked on a technicality. There is a lot of evidence he was dealing drugs through his car dealerships and laundering the proceeds. With the reduced burden of proof, you can convince a jury.”
    “If it ever gets that