Let the litigation begin

Kevorkian's lawyer's suit against the Columbine killers' parents is just the beginning.

By Dave Cullen

May 28, 1999 | "This is not about money!"

So declared Michael Shoels as he announced his family's $250 million wrongful death lawsuit against the parents of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. "This lawsuit is about change!" Shoels insisted. "That's the only way you get change, if you go rattling their pocketbooks."

Welcome to Round Two of the Columbine Tragedy, where the action shifts to the courtroom, but the focus remains squarely on the media.

Fresh from victory in the sensational Jenny Jones tabloid television trial, and several assisted-suicide cases for Dr. Jack Kevorkian before that, attorney Geoffrey Fieger flew to Denver to represent the parents of Isaiah Shoels, the only African-American killed in the April 20 attack that left 15 dead. The suit filed Thursday in Denver's District Court charges the killers' parents with five counts of parental negligence.

Fieger said the suit against the killers' parents is just the beginning: He plans to eventually target police, school authorities, gun manufacturers, accessories to the murders and "any individual who directly contributed to two sick children possessing an arsenal and access to the school."

The lawsuit was not filed in Jefferson County, where the murders occurred, but in Denver, Feiger said, because the Shoels family moved to Colorado's largest city since the killings to flee ongoing racial discrimination and intimidation. Michael Shoels said that days after his son was murdered, a young man in a trench coat showed up in his yard, and his wife Vonda "was terrified about continuing in that location." He said the police response was, "This is happening all over the neighborhood."

The legal wrangling might have begun sooner, if not for an anti-ambulance-chaser statute in Colorado, which forbids attorneys from contacting families until one month after the death of a victim. Technically, the moratorium did not apply in this case, as the family initiated contact with Fieger. Local reaction Thursday was fiercely negative, with talk radio dominated by anti-lawsuit sentiment, leveled generally against the lawyers rather than the Shoels family.

Fieger acknowledged "there will be cynics" who think the lawsuit is "about greed." But Colorado law limits awards in wrongful death cases to $250,000 -- state law restricts suits against governmental entities like the school district even further, to $150,000 -- and Fieger insists he'll spend more mounting the case than he can ever hope to recover. He admitted one goal of the lawsuit would be to overturn those dollar limits, which may involve additional suits in other jurisdictions. "This lawsuit is a symbol," he said. "This lawsuit is to serve as a living memorial to Isaiah Shoels."

The first lawsuit targeted the killers' parents, Fieger added, because it will give him time to develop the case against the other parties. He said he may even turn to federal courts to take advantage of this week's Supreme Court decision holding schools responsible for sexual harassment. "I can't believe that the Supreme Court would hold that immunity is gone from sexual harassment, but not for the loss of human life," he said.

Next Page: But do Fieger and the Shoels family share the same agenda?

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