Photo: Getty Images
SANTA MONICA (CNS) - A judge has denied for now a request by three sisters who sued former Democratic donor Ed Buck after their brother died in Buck's West Hollywood apartment in 2019 to attach $750,000 of his assets before Buck uses up all his resources on attorneys' fees while appealing his criminal conviction.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge H. Jay Ford III said during Friday's hearing that he was denying the motion by Joyce Jackson, Joann Campbell and Retha Singleton "without prejudice," meaning the motion can be brought again later. The women were the sisters of the late 55-year-old Timothy Dean.
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, 26- year-old Gemmel Moore, who was found dead in Buck's apartment in July 2017.
The 68-year-old Buck was sentenced in April 2022 to 30 years in prison and Ford lifted a temporary stay on the civil case the next month.
According to the plaintiffs' attorneys' court papers, as Buck continues to exhaust his resources to fund his protracted criminal case appeal, the likelihood that he will have little to nothing remaining from which to pay an award of civil damages to plaintiffs "increases exponentially."
With trial scheduled Aug. 7, one can reasonably infer that Buck will "surreptitiously conceal his property so as to lend the appearance of insolvency, thereby rendering himself judgment-proof, which would secure for himself the availability of resources with which to continue funding his protracted appeal," the plaintiffs' attorneys further maintain in their court papers.
The purpose of a prejudgment attachment order is to secure the payment of a potential monetary judgment that may subsequently be recovered in a successful plaintiff outcome of a claim for damages. Buck's assets include bank accounts, stocks, bonds and an Acura SUV, according to the sisters' lawyers' court papers.
According to the lawsuit filed in January 2020, several vials, syringes and containers of narcotics were recovered from throughout Buck's residence.
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.