Video above: SCOTUS Will Allow Sandy Hook Families to Sue RemingtonIn the volume of pretrial data turned over by bankrupted Remington to nine Sandy Hook families suing for wrongful marketing, lawyers said they found 18,000 random cartoons and 15,000 irrelevant pictures of people go-karting and dirt-biking.“Having repeatedly represented to the (families) and this court that it was devoting extensive resources to making what it described as “substantial” document productions … Remington has instead made the plaintiffs wait years to receive cartoon images, gender reveal videos, and duplicate copies of catalogues,” reads a complaint filed by the families’ lawyers in state Superior Court last week. “There is no possible reasonable explanation for this conduct.”The complaint, the latest in the 7-year battle by the Sandy Hook families to hold accountable the maker of the AR-15-style rifle used in the 2012 shootings, does not allege that all 46,000 documents turned over by Remington are irrelevant.“When the seemingly random cartoons, images, videos, duplicates, and other items noted are accounted for, Remington, it would seem, has spent the better part of seven years producing 6,606 potentially useful documents in response to the plaintiffs’ requests,” the court complaint reads.Reached on Tuesday for comment, Remington’s lead attorney did not respond specifically to the cartoons, some of which the families submitted to the judge — including images of Santa, a farmer, a weightlifter, and a bowl of ice cream.“(Remington) will respond to this motion in the coming weeks, and point out what it believes are incorrect representations, numerous half-truths, and important omissions by (families’) counsel,” Remington lead attorney James Vogts said Tuesday.The families’ attorneys argued that Remington’s purpose seemed clear.“Remington’s … effort to lard its document production with cartoons and duplicate catalogues sends a strong message about the real motive here,” the families’ attorneys wrote. “Remington is desperate to avoid a true review of the internal and external communications detailing its abusive marketing practices.”From the start of the lawsuit in 2014, Remington has argued that it manufactured a legal firearm that was distributed lawfully and sold legally to Nancy Lanza, who left the rifle in an unlocked closet. It was her son, Adam Lanza, not the gun-maker, who was responsible for the murders of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Remington said.Remington made national news last summer when it declared bankruptcy for the second time in two years and was sold for $159 million to Fairfield-based Sturm Ruger and six other companies. A federal bankruptcy judge assured the Sandy Hook families that some of the sale proceeds would be dedicated to keeping the gun-maker’s insurance intact.The families’ lawsuit, which has been thrown out of state Superior Court, reinstated by Connecticut Supreme Court and turned down for review by the U.S. Supreme Court is back in trial court after Remington’s bankruptcy, with jury selection scheduled for September.For the moment, the families’ attorneys want a court order compelling Remington to abide by its agreement to turn over all the marketing data they’ve requested.“Remington has treated discovery as a game,” the families’ lawyers said. “Unwilling to have this case decided by a jury on the merits with a full record, Remington has sought delay and obfuscation at every turn.”
Video above: SCOTUS Will Allow Sandy Hook Families to Sue Remington
In the volume of pretrial data turned over by bankrupted Remington to nine Sandy Hook families suing for wrongful marketing, lawyers said they found 18,000 random cartoons and 15,000 irrelevant pictures of people go-karting and dirt-biking.
“Having repeatedly represented to the (families) and this court that it was devoting extensive resources to making what it described as “substantial” document productions … Remington has instead made the plaintiffs wait years to receive cartoon images, gender reveal videos, and duplicate copies of catalogues,” reads a complaint filed by the families’ lawyers in state Superior Court last week. “There is no possible reasonable explanation for this conduct.”
The complaint, the latest in the 7-year battle by the Sandy Hook families to hold accountable the maker of the AR-15-style rifle used in the 2012 shootings, does not allege that all 46,000 documents turned over by Remington are irrelevant.
“When the seemingly random cartoons, images, videos, duplicates, and other items noted are accounted for, Remington, it would seem, has spent the better part of seven years producing 6,606 potentially useful documents in response to the plaintiffs’ requests,” the court complaint reads.
Reached on Tuesday for comment, Remington’s lead attorney did not respond specifically to the cartoons, some of which the families submitted to the judge — including images of Santa, a farmer, a weightlifter, and a bowl of ice cream.
“(Remington) will respond to this motion in the coming weeks, and point out what it believes are incorrect representations, numerous half-truths, and important omissions by (families’) counsel,” Remington lead attorney James Vogts said Tuesday.
The families’ attorneys argued that Remington’s purpose seemed clear.
“Remington’s … effort to lard its document production with cartoons and duplicate catalogues sends a strong message about the real motive here,” the families’ attorneys wrote. “Remington is desperate to avoid a true review of the internal and external communications detailing its abusive marketing practices.”
From the start of the lawsuit in 2014, Remington has argued that it manufactured a legal firearm that was distributed lawfully and sold legally to Nancy Lanza, who left the rifle in an unlocked closet. It was her son, Adam Lanza, not the gun-maker, who was responsible for the murders of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Remington said.
Remington made national news last summer when it declared bankruptcy for the second time in two years and was sold for $159 million to Fairfield-based Sturm Ruger and six other companies. A federal bankruptcy judge assured the Sandy Hook families that some of the sale proceeds would be dedicated to keeping the gun-maker’s insurance intact.
The families’ lawsuit, which has been thrown out of state Superior Court, reinstated by Connecticut Supreme Court and turned down for review by the U.S. Supreme Court is back in trial court after Remington’s bankruptcy, with jury selection scheduled for September.
For the moment, the families’ attorneys want a court order compelling Remington to abide by its agreement to turn over all the marketing data they’ve requested.
“Remington has treated discovery as a game,” the families’ lawyers said. “Unwilling to have this case decided by a jury on the merits with a full record, Remington has sought delay and obfuscation at every turn.”
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