The Indiana Court of Appeals is once again becoming involved in a 25-year-old Gary lawsuit after an order was issued.
Lake Superior Court Judge John Sedia on Monday granted a motion for an interlocutory appeal for Glock Corp., the defendants in a 1999 Gary gun lawsuit. The case alleged the gun industry should be held accountable for supplying guns they know will reach criminals and others who can’t legally buy firearms.
An interlocutory appeal is a non-final order issued during a lawsuit and “are extremely rare,” according to Cornell Law School’s website.
The case has survived prior challenges, with both state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court allowing it to move forward.
The appeal was filed in regards to an Aug. 12 order from Sedia, in which he denied a motion to dismiss the case, according to online court documents. Eleven gun manufacturers in March filed the motion, citing a new Indiana law — House Enrolled Act 1235 — signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
The law takes away the right to sue from municipalities, such as the city of Gary, by making it retroactive, and allows only the state’s attorney general to file lawsuits.
Sedia ruled that while laws can affect past cases, “it cannot end this lawsuit which the appellate courts of this state have found to be permitted by prior statute,” according to the motion.
He wrote that the case could create issues in determining the real party of interest in the case. Gary officials filed the lawsuit on behalf of its residents in 1999 as the number of gun-related deaths reached epidemic levels.
Mayor Eddie Melton and State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, a city of Gary attorney, were both unavailable to comment Tuesday, but have defended the city’s right to pursue the suit.
“Local governments have the right to fight back against bad actors, and I repeat, bad actors who they believe are harming their community,” Melton said in February.
Carla Morgan, corporation counsel for the city of Gary, told the Post-Tribune Tuesday that attorneys are still confident in the case. Sedia certifying the appeal doesn’t trouble the attorneys, Morgan said.
“We believe that the best outcome for the residents of Gary is for the case to get the full hearing that we’ve been fighting to get for two decades,” she said. “It’s still important for us to seek justice and seek answers for everyone in Gary who has lost loved ones because of the illegal sales of guns.”
In a Friday response to the gun manufacturers’ appeal, the city’s attorneys said the “long-delayed trial should proceed.”
The manufacturers claimed the discovery will be expensive for them, substantial questions of law would promote the disposition of the case and the resolution, “on appeal, will ‘avoid a patchwork of injunctive requirements that would create confusion for Hoosiers and members of the firearms industry,’” according to online documents.
“Defendants do not, however, put forth any good reason to further hold this case up in an appeal for additional years before the courts of appeal inevitably send it back for discovery and trial,” the city’s response said. “Further delay at this point would be unconscionable given how long this case has been delayed by Defendants’ prior appeals.”
Claiming that discovery is expensive is not a basis for interlocutory review, the city’s attorneys said in their response. Indiana procedure says the case will proceed while any appeal is prosecuted.
Manufacturers also explained reasons they disagree with the order but failed to describe how their reasons “amount to ‘substantial questions of law’ and why determining them now ‘will promote a more orderly disposition of the case,’” according to the response.
The city’s attorneys claim that the manufacturers’ tactics have delayed the case and will continue to do so.
“Defendants’ current attempt to interrupt further the progress of this case with another interlocutory appeal is designed to do anything but ‘promote the orderly disposition of the case,’” the response said.
The gun manufacturers also argued that an appeal after the case’s final judgment wouldn’t protect their interests, and appealing earlier would avoid potential confusion for Indiana residents and the firearm industry.
Gary’s response said the defendants don’t have any other Indiana lawsuits, and no other lawsuits are threatened that could lead to confusion.
The lawsuit, filed when Scott King was mayor, originally sued 11 gun manufacturers, one wholesaler and five retail gun shops by alleging they engaged in illegal activity including straw purchases under the state’s nuisance statute. In arguing its case, the city pointed to 70 killings in 1997 and 54 in 1998. From 1997 through 2000, 764 recovered handguns were sold by dealers named as defendants.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
