TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - The lawyer for a man who says he was hurt on a Six Flags ride says the company tortured her client with questions about how he became a paraplegic during a seven-hour deposition and objects to any further questioning.
Alaina Gregorio of Messa & Associates wrote the New Jersey federal court on Oct. 18, urging it to reconsider a previous decision that allowed Six Flags two more hours to question plaintiff Lester Davis.
Davis is a paraplegic who says he was allowed to ride "The Joker," even though it requires "two functioning legs." He says his flailed wildly about the coaster, hitting the restraint bar. The result was several broken bones, his lawsuit says.
But part of the deposition by Six Flags' lawyers focused on a school shooting decades ago when Davis was 14 years old and playing basketball at Bartram High School. The injuries he sustained in January 1998 ultimately led him to become paraplegic in 2009.
According to his response to questions from Six Flags lawyer Christopher Gulla of Murphy Sanchez, Davis does not know why he was shot. Gregorio's petition says Gulla did not address the incident leading to Davis' injuries at Six Flags during the first five hours of questioning.
"This questioning about a very traumatic event that happened to Mr. Davis as a child continued on for several more pages," Gregorio wrote.
"Mr. Gulla spent a significant amount of time asking Mr. Davis about this tragic and traumatic event, insinuating that Mr. Davis was somehow responsible for being shot at as a child in a school yard.
"It is Plaintiff's contention that this incident was explored in detail with Mr. Davis for an improper purpose and try to determine if he was somehow involved in the shooting that occurred to smear his character and paint him in a bad light, as there was no valid basis to ask such probing questions about such an undisputed sensitive topic."
Gregorio's petition includes 14 questions about the matter, including "How many shots overall do you think the person fired at the playground?" and "Okay. And it was just kind of sprayed generally in the direction of the basketball court?"
Gregorio wrote: "This is an injury case that occurred at an amusement park ride when Mr. Davis was 35 years old. It is inconceivable that counsel could not address all of the pertinent areas in this matter in a seven-hour deposition."