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Three sisters whose brother died in the West Hollywood apartment of Ed Buck in 2019 are asking a judge to enter judgment before trial on three of their eight civil suit claims against the former Democratic donor, including wrongful death.
In court papers filed Monday with Santa Monica Superior Court Judge H. Jay Ford III, attorneys for Joyce Jackson, Joann Campbell and Retha Singleton maintain that the wrongful death, drug dealer liability and premises civil liability claims were all proven by virtue of Buck’s conviction in the death of their late brother, Timothy Dean.
“These issues were already conclusively determined during (Buck’s) criminal trial, whereby they are conclusively determined with respect to (Buck’s) civil liability,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys argue in their court papers.
After a nine-day trial in July 2021, a federal jury found Buck guilty of two counts of distribution of methamphetamine resulting in death, four counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, and two counts of enticement to travel in interstate commerce for prostitution stemming from the deaths of Dean and another man, Gemmel Moore, who was found dead in Buck’s apartment in July 2017.
The 68-year-old Buck was sentenced last April to 30 years in prison.
Last May, Ford lifted a temporary stay on the civil case. If the judge grants the current motion during a scheduled June 27 hearing, it will leave for trial the plaintiffs’ remaining causes of action against Buck for sexual battery, assault, battery, hate violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Several vials, syringes and containers of narcotics were recovered from throughout Buck’s residence, according to the lawsuit filed in January 2020, which cites autopsy report findings.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded hat Dean’s death was caused by an accidental methamphetamine overdose, according to the plaintiffs’ court papers, which state that Buck has contributed more than $500,000 to the election campaigns and legal defense funds of numerous Los Angeles County and city government officials and candidates since 2008.
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