Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

Even as an investigation into the “suicide” death of a Massachusetts woman who was visiting the US Virgin Islands continues, the family of Joan Baruffaldi is suing her husband, Robert Harris, for her wrongful death.

The veterinarian and mother of two, age 45, and her husband had been attending a conference at the island of St. John earlier this month when Harris says he found her hanging by her bathroom belt rope from the hotel bathroom’s curtain rod. Baruffaldi was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The local medical examiner declared her death a suicide.

Harris told authorities he and his wife locked herself in the bathroom after a day of fighting and drinking. He says he heard a crash coming from the locked room and thought she had passed out. Minutes later he contacted hotel security who opened the bathroom door.

Police say they are now treating their probe into the deaths of two people who attended a sweat lodge for two hours as a homicide investigation. 38-year-old Kirby Brown and 40-year-old James Shore died on Friday while attending a “Spiritual Warrior” program run by self-help expert James Arthur Ray at the Angel Valley Resort.

More than 50 people reportedly entered the makeshift lodge, which was a 415-square-foot space. 19 other participants sustained injuries during the ceremony, intended as a “spiritual awakening.” As of today, one person is still in the hospital in critical condition.

Yesterday, a search warrant was executed at James Ray International offices. Police are looking for any documents that may have provided instructions on properly constructing a proper sweat lodge. They also want to know whether participants were notified of the risks associated with participating in the ceremony. Authorities say they no longer believe the deaths were “accidental.”

Program participants each paid over $9,000 to attend the 5-day course. The Associated Press was able to obtain records indicating that in 2005, local fire officials arrived at Ray’s “Spiritual Warrior” retreat to treat someone who fell unconscious during the sweat lodge.

Tom McFeeley, a spokesperson for the Brown family says that a transcript of a teleconference call this week facilitated by Ray with a number of the sweat lodge participants claims that the self-help expert is “controlling” participants and had engaged in their “physical and mental mistreatment.”

On Monday, Jack Judd, Yavapai County’s building safety manager, said there were no records to indicate that the sweat lodge constructed at the retreat center for Ray’s program had the required building permit or that anyone had applied for one.

Wrongful Death
Even if the person or entity responsible for your loved one’s death did not intend to inflict harm, the party may still be held liable in civil court for Massachusetts wrongful death if recklessness, carelessness, negligence, or inadequate supervision contributed to the fatality. A Boston injury claim, and its outcome, is separate from any criminal charges that prosecutors might decide to pursue.

Murder Probe in Sweat Lodge Deaths, CBS News, October 15, 2009
Sweat lodge deaths investigated as homicides, CNN, October 15, 2009
Ariz. sweat lodge lacked key permit, The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 13, 2009

Related Web Resources:
James Arthur Ray

Spiritual Warrior Program
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In Norfolk Superior Court, Judge Patrick F. Brady has ordered Boston mobsters James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi to pay $30 million for the Massachusetts wrongful death of Debra Davis. Flemmi, who was the 26-year-old woman’s boyfriend, testified of his reluctance to kill her. He said that Bulger demanded that she die because she knew too much about their connection to the FBI as informants.

Flemmi, who is in prison for life for 10 murders, has also been ordered to pay $3 million for molesting Davis’s younger sister, Michelle, as well as $500,000 for the intentional emotional trauma inflicted on Davis’s mother, Olga. Michelle and Olga are both dead so any compensation that is collected would go to their estates. Bulger continues to remain in hiding.

A federal judge has yet to issue its final ruling on whether the government should be held liable for Davis’s murder as well as for the killings of Louis Litif and Deborah Hussey. Last July, US District Judge William G. Young said that the government was liable and that the families of the three victims should each receive $350,000 for pain and suffering. The judge said that he didn’t think he was going to order the government to pay the mothers of Davis and Hussey damages for their losses of companionship and support because the victims were adults when they died.

Over a year ago, our Boston Injury Lawyer Blog posted a story about a $10 million Massachusetts wrongful death filed against the city of Beverly and three of its police officers over the 2005 suicide death of then-19-year-old Danielle Tarsook.

The lawsuit accused the defendants of negligence in the way they handled a 911 call about a “possible suicidal female, who happened to be Danielle. After taking her to a hospital to have her admitted, they instead handed her over to her father, then-police officer Dennis Tarsook. The complaint notes that it is against police policy for officers to handle incidents that involve their family members.

Per a state police report, Danielle and her dad got into an argument and she went home without getting any medical help. She then used an electrical cord to hang herself in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Matt Lewis.

The Associated Press says that a law enforcement officer has told them that the Los Angeles Coroner’s office has determined that Michael’s Jackson’s death was a homicide caused by a combination of drugs. By calling the singer’s death a homicide, this means that the pop star died as a result of another person. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the person committed a crime.

Results from forensic tests determined that propofol, a powerful anesthetic, and at least two sedatives, were in Jackson’s body when he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on June 25. Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who was the singer’s personal physician in the weeks leading up to his death on June 25, administered the drugs to him.

Murray has been under investigation for manslaughter related to Jackson’s death. According to a search warrant affidavit that was unsealed yesterday, Murray had been giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night using an intravenous drip to treat his insomnia. He was worried, however, that Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and had tried lowering his dosage to 25 milligrams while also giving him midazolam and lorazepam.

Early on June 25, Murray administered Valium to Jackson before giving him lorazepam and midazolam twice. The drugs didn’t work and Jackson demanded propofol, which finally helped him go to sleep. Soon after, the singer stopped breathing.

This latest news, which has not been officially confirmed, comes amidst reports that Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, is thinking about filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Murray and concert promoter AEG Live are two possible defendants. Jackson was preparing for a tour at the time of his death. There also may have been other doctors who enabled Jackson’s drug addiction.

Wrongful Death
A person or entity can be held liable for wrongful death even if the intention to inflict death did not exist and the person’s death was an accident. The surviving family members may still be able to pursue recovery for wrongful death if there is evidence to prove that the defendant’s negligence, recklessness, or carelessness contributed to the death.

Coroner Attributes Michael Jackson’s Death to Sedative, The Washington Post, August 25, 2009
Michael Jackson’s mother considering wrongful death lawsuit!, Justice News Flash, August 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Propofol, Drugs.com
Michael Jackson is Dead, Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2009 Continue reading