Riverside sues gun maker in Miller slaying
Lorcin, the Mira Loma manufacturer, failed to educate pistol users, the suit claims.
By Lisa O'Neill Hill and John Welch
The Press-Enterprise
RIVERSIDE
A gun manufacturer shares responsibility for Tyisha Miller's death for selling the weapon she had on her lap when she was fatally shot by police, the city of Riverside claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Lorcin Engineering Co. should be named as a co-defendant along with the city in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tyisha Miller's family, said Skip Miller, the city's attorney.
The company is responsible for negligently marketing and distributing the .38-caliber gun Miller had, the lawsuit contends. Lorcin failed to educate or train users regarding the safe and correct way to use guns, the suit states.
"We think they bear significant responsibility," said Skip Miller, who is not related to Tyisha Miller.
No one associated with Lorcin was available for comment Thursday.
Supporters of Tyisha Miller said the city is trying to shift blame from the officers who shot her to the gun manufacturer.
"I think what is unfortunate is that they are using a legitimate concern, that being gun control, to serve an illegitimate purpose, which is damage control," said Rev. Jesse Wilson, chairman of the Tyisha Miller Steering Committee.
The city maintains that the shooting was preventable.
"This whole thing would not have occurred but for the presence of this loaded Lorcin L380," Skip Miller said. "That gun should never have been there.
"The city is not trying to pass the buck. The city has stepped up and taken full responsibility . . . This whole thing was not entirely caused by the city."
Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge said city officials are following Skip Miller's advice in taking the legal action.
"You try to have the best defense of a case you can and Skip Miller is one of the best in the business and I support his inclusion of the gun manufacturer," Loveridge said.
Lorcin, which has been criticized for making guns that sell for less than $100 each, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 1996 with $1.08 million in assets and about $4.2 million in liabilities. Skip Miller said Thursday the company is not bankrupt.
Bruce Jennings, owner of B.L. Jennings, a gun distribution company, said he faxed a copy of the lawsuit to James Waldorf, a former Lorcin president and chief executive officer. Waldorf did not want to comment on the lawsuit, Jennings said.
The company and several other gun manufacturers have been sued in the past over allegations that they marketed handguns irresponsibly.
James Waldorf has said that he was forced to close the Mira Loma plant of Lorcin Engineering in 1999 because of the legal claims. The lawsuits facing the company were intended to drive up the cost of all guns, he said.
Last month he said the company beat back the claims by governments against his company.
"Every single claim against Lorcin was dismissed, but at a very expensive cost of $100,000 here, $100,000 there," in legal fees, Waldorf said.
Waldorf has since started a company in Nevada.
Riverside joins cities across the country that have filed lawsuits against gun makers. Chicago, New Orleans and Newark, N.J. are among the municipalities that have taken legal action to recover costs associated with gun violence.
"This is nothing new, nothing different," Jennings said. "It's exactly the same allegations of the other 30 lawsuits brought on by cities against gun manufacturers the past two years that have cost the firearms industry tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, in attorney fees."
Thursday's action is the most recent legal maneuvering in connection with Miller's death and is part of the city's defense against a wrongful-death lawsuit by Miller's family. Along with the city, two of the officers who shot Miller and their supervisor are named as plantiffs in the suit against Lorcin.
Miller, 19, was fatally shot by four white Riverside police officers as she sat inside a locked, idling car at a Riverside gas station on Dec. 28, 1998. Her friends had called 911 after Miller appeared to be unresponsive and in need of medical attention.
Officers said they shot the black Rubidoux woman in self-defense after she reached for the gun on her lap. They were fired from the Police Department for the tactics they used in the shooting.
Miller did not fire the gun, and investigators later determined that it was inoperable.
By failing to educate users, "Lorcin proximately caused any and all harm sustained by Miller and her parents resulting from her tragic death," the document states.
Lorcin should have known that failure to educate users could subject them to deadly force resulting in injury or death at the hands of police officers or others.
Staff writers John Welsh and David Danelski contributed to this report.
Published 4/7/2000
Lorcin, the Mira Loma manufacturer, failed to educate pistol users, the suit claims.
By Lisa O'Neill Hill and John Welch
The Press-Enterprise
RIVERSIDE
A gun manufacturer shares responsibility for Tyisha Miller's death for selling the weapon she had on her lap when she was fatally shot by police, the city of Riverside claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
Lorcin Engineering Co. should be named as a co-defendant along with the city in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tyisha Miller's family, said Skip Miller, the city's attorney.
The company is responsible for negligently marketing and distributing the .38-caliber gun Miller had, the lawsuit contends. Lorcin failed to educate or train users regarding the safe and correct way to use guns, the suit states.
"We think they bear significant responsibility," said Skip Miller, who is not related to Tyisha Miller.
No one associated with Lorcin was available for comment Thursday.
Supporters of Tyisha Miller said the city is trying to shift blame from the officers who shot her to the gun manufacturer.
"I think what is unfortunate is that they are using a legitimate concern, that being gun control, to serve an illegitimate purpose, which is damage control," said Rev. Jesse Wilson, chairman of the Tyisha Miller Steering Committee.
The city maintains that the shooting was preventable.
"This whole thing would not have occurred but for the presence of this loaded Lorcin L380," Skip Miller said. "That gun should never have been there.
"The city is not trying to pass the buck. The city has stepped up and taken full responsibility . . . This whole thing was not entirely caused by the city."
Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge said city officials are following Skip Miller's advice in taking the legal action.
"You try to have the best defense of a case you can and Skip Miller is one of the best in the business and I support his inclusion of the gun manufacturer," Loveridge said.
Lorcin, which has been criticized for making guns that sell for less than $100 each, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 1996 with $1.08 million in assets and about $4.2 million in liabilities. Skip Miller said Thursday the company is not bankrupt.
Bruce Jennings, owner of B.L. Jennings, a gun distribution company, said he faxed a copy of the lawsuit to James Waldorf, a former Lorcin president and chief executive officer. Waldorf did not want to comment on the lawsuit, Jennings said.
The company and several other gun manufacturers have been sued in the past over allegations that they marketed handguns irresponsibly.
James Waldorf has said that he was forced to close the Mira Loma plant of Lorcin Engineering in 1999 because of the legal claims. The lawsuits facing the company were intended to drive up the cost of all guns, he said.
Last month he said the company beat back the claims by governments against his company.
"Every single claim against Lorcin was dismissed, but at a very expensive cost of $100,000 here, $100,000 there," in legal fees, Waldorf said.
Waldorf has since started a company in Nevada.
Riverside joins cities across the country that have filed lawsuits against gun makers. Chicago, New Orleans and Newark, N.J. are among the municipalities that have taken legal action to recover costs associated with gun violence.
"This is nothing new, nothing different," Jennings said. "It's exactly the same allegations of the other 30 lawsuits brought on by cities against gun manufacturers the past two years that have cost the firearms industry tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, in attorney fees."
Thursday's action is the most recent legal maneuvering in connection with Miller's death and is part of the city's defense against a wrongful-death lawsuit by Miller's family. Along with the city, two of the officers who shot Miller and their supervisor are named as plantiffs in the suit against Lorcin.
Miller, 19, was fatally shot by four white Riverside police officers as she sat inside a locked, idling car at a Riverside gas station on Dec. 28, 1998. Her friends had called 911 after Miller appeared to be unresponsive and in need of medical attention.
Officers said they shot the black Rubidoux woman in self-defense after she reached for the gun on her lap. They were fired from the Police Department for the tactics they used in the shooting.
Miller did not fire the gun, and investigators later determined that it was inoperable.
By failing to educate users, "Lorcin proximately caused any and all harm sustained by Miller and her parents resulting from her tragic death," the document states.
Lorcin should have known that failure to educate users could subject them to deadly force resulting in injury or death at the hands of police officers or others.
Staff writers John Welsh and David Danelski contributed to this report.
Published 4/7/2000
I tnever ceases to amaze me what these lawyers will do or say. 
