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Judge dismisses wrongful death suit against Joyce Meyer Ministries – STLtoday.com

WATERLOO • The wrongful death suit against Joyce Meyer Ministries involving the murder of her bodyguard’s family was dismissed by a judge this week, but the case can be refiled.
Lawyers for the Fenton-based televangelist ministry argued last month that the suit, filed in 2011, lacked merit because the ministry had nothing to do with the deaths. They also said that the lawsuit was vague and lacked specifics.
Judge Richard Aguirre signed the order dismissing the lawsuit on Tuesday, but said that it can be refiled within 30 days.
Christopher Coleman, the ministry’s bodyguard and security chief, spent six months plotting to kill his family, sending written death threats to help stage the crime and point the blame at a deranged phantom killer. The bodies of his wife, Sheri, and two preteen sons, Garett and Gavin, were found in their Columbia, Ill., home on May 5, 2009. Coleman was convicted two years later of three counts of first degree murder.
The family of Sheri Coleman — her mother and brother — sued the ministry, saying it should have known Coleman had sent the written threats. They also claim the ministry should have warned Sheri Coleman that her husband was having an affair, which police said led to the murders.
The suit has had various incarnations since the murders first occured.
Attorneys for Joyce Meyer said the lawsuit failed to cite any evidence that the ministry was at fault.
Judge Aguirre’s order allows Sheri Coleman’s family to rewrite their complaint an refile it within 30 days. Jack Carey, a lawyer representing them, says they will do so.
“This was not unanticipated,” Carey said. “We lacked some things in specificity and we will refile.”
Prosecutors said Coleman killed his wife and [...]

By jwj|September 24th, 2012|News|Comments Off|

Judge dismisses wrongful death lawsuit against city of Phoenix – KPHO Phoenix

PHOENIX (CBS5) –
CBS5 News has learned a judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Phoenix.
The city was named in a civil suit filed by Elvira Fernandez, the mother of Daniel Rodriguez.
He was shot to death by former Phoenix Police Officer Richard Chrisman, who was responding to a domestic call at Fernandez’s home on Oct. 5, 2010.
Chrisman is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
He’s accused of pepper-spraying, tasing and then shooting Rodriguez, who was unarmed.
Chrisman also fatally shot Rodriguez’s dog.
The lawsuit claimed the city had unconstitutional policies and customs and failed to properly train and supervise its officers.
There were also claims of negligence and gross negligence.
But, in his June 20 ruling , U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone wrote the plaintiff failed to provide evidence to support the claims against the city.
The attorney for Rodriguez’s mother argued the city knowingly employed an officer who’d been punished for planting drug paraphernalia on a mentally ill woman during a training exercise and whose name is on the Brady List – which names police officers who’ve acted in ways that question their integrity and honesty.
In his decision, Martone acknowledged the city knew of Chrisman’s prior infractions, but ruled that is “not enough to show that the city knew Chrisman had the propensity to attack… and kill an unarmed citizen in his home without provocation.”
And, under Arizona state law, you can’t sue a city for punitive damages.
CBS5 spoke with Rodriguez’s mother Thursday night.
All she would say is that she’s disgusted by the judge’s decision to dismiss the claims against the city.
Her attorney, Sabinus Megwa, declined to comment on how or [...]

By jwj|August 10th, 2012|News|Comments Off|