DC v Beretta: Two steps forward, one step back

Following the extremely favorable decision in the DC Superior Court, the case was appealed to the DC Court of Appeals. That court upheld in part and reversed in part. Specifically, it upheld the individual claims while allowing the dismissal of the District's action to stand, under the theory that the plaintiffs are entitled to discovery concerning their claims in the hopes of tying their injuries to a particular firearm, and thus to a particular defendent.

That's less of a victory than the Superior Court decision, but the case isn't over yet. The industry has petitioned the Supreme Court in the hopes of overturning the ruling. Even if that appeal fails, it's still not a loss. Unfortunately, it does mean that the industry will need to continue to defend the case, paying the necessary legal fees. Even "not losing" is still expensive, and that's been the whole point of these lawsuits from the beginning. Gun Week has a summary of this decision.

I'm trying to get my hands on the whole decision, so I can present the case in some semblance of chronological order. I may even already have it filed somewhere. You'll see it when I do. After that, or if I can't find the decision anywhere, I'll move on to post the petition for certiori to the Supreme Court, which I do have ready...

UPDATE: 30 seconds after I posted this, I found the decision of the DC Appeals Court. Analysis to follow.

Posted on 2005-08-27 20:21:48.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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