A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit against a pawn shop that sold one of the guns used in the killing spree at the Trolley Square mall.
Third District Judge Glenn Iwasaki issued a ruling last week declining to dismiss Carolyn Tuft's wrongful death lawsuit against Sportsman's Fast Cash. Tuft was wounded in the Feb. 12, 2007, shooting spree. Her daughter, 15-year-old Kirsten Hinckley, was killed.
Lawyers for Tuft said the judge rejected the pawn shop's claim that the sale of a pistol-grip shotgun to Sulejman Talovic was legal.
"We are pleased that the court rejected the pawn shop's attempt to deny Carolyn Tuft her day in court," Tuft's attorney, Mark Williams, said in a statement sent to the Deseret News on Monday.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which is also representing Tuft, hailed the decision.
"Gun dealers that illegally sell dangerous weapons to dangerous people must be held accountable for their unlawful conduct," said Daniel Vice, an attorney for the gun-control group.
Armed with the pistol-grip shotgun and a .38 Special that he bought from a friend, 18-year-old Talovic went into the Trolley Square mall and opened fire, killing five and wounding four others before getting into a shootout with an off-duty Ogden police officer. Talovic was then shot and killed by Salt Lake City police.
Westley Wayne Hill, the pawn shop employee who sold the shotgun to Talovic, pleaded guilty in federal court last year to a misdemeanor charge of failing to maintain a proper record and was sentenced to a year of probation.
Lawyers for the pawn shop have denied they were negligent and said in court filings seeking to have the lawsuit tossed that even if they were, Talovic acted alone and independent of them.
Another survivor of the killing rampage, Stacy Hanson, also has filed a lawsuit against the pawn shop. Attorneys for Sportsman's Fast Cash have renewed their request to toss that lawsuit.
Trials in both lawsuits are expected to start in 2010.