Trolley Square gun suit ongoing

PROVO — A judge Monday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against a pawnshop and clerk accused of illegally selling a weapon to the 18-year-old Trolley Square shooter.

Trolley Square survivor Stacy Hanson, who was left paralyzed after the Feb. 12, 2007 rampage, sued Rocky Mountain Enterprises, aka Sportsman's Fast Cash and clerk Westley Wayne Hill, claiming the pistol-grip shotgun was illegally sold to Sulejman Talovic and that the store should have known violence would ensue.

"There are catastrophic damages," said Hanson's attorney Richard Burbidge after a hearing Monday in 4th District Court. "My client was blown to bits. He'll be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. The lethality of this weapon won't escape anybody."

Monday's decision by Judge Fred Howard didn't fluster either side, as both attorneys said they're confident they will win at trial.

In February, a judge refused to throw out a similar lawsuit against Sportsman's Fast Cash filed by survivor Carolyn Tuft.

Talovic killed five people and injured four before he was shot by police.

Burbidge argued Monday that the weapon — which had a pistol-grip, not the standard shoulder stock — is not actually a shotgun and therefore illegal to sell to anyone under 21 years old. Talovic was 18 at the time of purchase.

Such weapons have no legitimate sporting purposes, Burbidge argued, and are incredibly dangerous. The clerk should have known Talovic's purpose was criminal in nature and not sold the gun.

But the pawnshop's attorney Nathan Crane argued there was no way to "foresee" what Talovic would do after he purchased the gun.

Talovic wasn't a convicted felon, he didn't purchase any ammunition at the same time, he passed the background check and he completed the necessary paperwork.

"This is a horrible event, a dark day in our state's history," Crane said. "There's no question that the plaintiffs suffered injuries as a result of Talovic's action, but he acted alone. (The store) could not foresee that the sale of their shotgun, lawfully to an 18-year-old, would lead to the mass devastation and harm that it has."

Hill later accepted a deal from federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty to failing to keep firearms records. Crane said he failed to ask for a second form of identification from Talovic. He was sentenced to a year of probation.

Crane also argued the gun was a legal shotgun under U.S. code, which defines such weapons as anything that is "designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder."

In the specific gun's owner's manual, Crane pointed out instructions about how to remove the pistol grip and install a shoulder stock.

Burbidge called such arguments a red herring, saying the gun was purchased, maintained and shot using the pistol grip.

Burbidge also showed a section of the gun's owner's manual which said "users should never hold these models at eye level in an attempt to sight down the barrel," he read. "This is a pistol-grip weapon not designed to be fired from the shoulder. Period. (That's) from the manufacturer."

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