A Tulsa attorney is suing 51 people who have been convicted or accused of drug dealing and related offenses on behalf of three children, citing harm from their mothers' drug use.
The lawsuit by attorney Kevin Adams is being filed under a state law called the Drug Dealer Liability Act. Adams said the law has been on the books since 1994 but that few people, including attorneys, are aware of it.
He thinks his suit may be the first under the law.
Adams' suit was filed Tuesday in Tulsa County District Court. It seeks actual and punitive damages on behalf of three children: a 9-year-old boy, his 2-year-old brother and an unrelated 2-year-old boy.
The children, whose full names are not listed in the lawsuit, have been taken away from their mothers and are living with relatives or guardians.
The mother of the siblings used marijuana, methamphetamine, hydrocodone, Xanax and other illegal drugs, the lawsuit alleges. The children were taken away from her in December 2012, the suit says.
The other child's mother used the same drugs, and the child now lives with his great aunt, who has guardianship of him, the suit says.
"When I read a police report, it always has a space for victim, and they put the victim's name there. On a drug case, they put 'none,' and it's not really the case," said Adams, an attorney in private practice in Tulsa for 12 years.
"These kids are the victims, and these people are destroying our society selling this stuff. This law allows some of those people that they never see that they hurt to come forward ... and make them pay. To me it's just pure justice."
Adams has represented criminal defendants and said he has recently stopped accepting cases in which people are accused of crimes related to drug distribution. He said he has several existing clients but that "I'm not taking those kind of cases anymore."
"I've represented drug dealers over the years, and I've just decided that I'd rather represent the kids and sue the drug dealers."
Adams said he hopes to recover enough to pay for the three children's housing, educational costs and other needs. The 51 defendants named in the suit own property or have assets that should enable them to pay a judgment, he said.
The defendants were all "arrested and charged with either possession with intent to distribute, drug distribution, trafficking, cultivation or endeavoring to manufacture illegal drugs in Tulsa County," the suit states.
The act allows a civil lawsuit to be filed against "any person who knowingly participates in the illegal drug market within this state" by distributing drugs or committing related crimes, Adams' lawsuit states. The law rules out such suits against people who purchase or receive drugs for personal use only.
Children of people who use drugs may sue under the law to recover damages caused by their parents' illegal drug use.
The law does not require plaintiffs to show that the defendants sold drugs to their relatives. People can be sued if the plaintiffs can prove that the defendants sold drugs in the county where the drug user resided.
The law also allows suits against defendants who sold the same types of drugs that the user was consuming in the same time frame.
Daniel Bent, a former U.S. attorney in Hawaii, developed the model legislation that Oklahoma and 16 other states, including Arkansas, now use for such laws.
In an interview with the Tulsa World, Bent said he came up with the idea after meeting the parents of a woman with a long history of drug addiction. The parents told him they learned that their daughter had been introduced to cocaine by a neighbor.
"If that same neighbor had injured that same child with their automobile, ... in every state in the country the family could recover damages," said Bent, now in private practice handling mediation.
He said that since Michigan passed the first Drug Dealer Liability Act in 1994, the law has been upheld by the courts.
"A number of cases have been brought by parents of an adolescent who overdosed on drugs," Bent said. "What the drug dealer liability allows parents to do is to conduct their own investigation."
Oklahoma's law does not require that defendants be convicted of the offenses before the lawsuit is filed. Adams' suit lists 11 of the 51 defendants as having pending drug charges.
Nearly all of the remaining defendants received deferred or suspended sentences, meaning if they successfully complete their agreements, they will not be incarcerated.
The defendants include two men who admitted taking part in the sale of 23 pounds of marijuana for $30,000, court records show. According to property records, Adams said, one of the men owns 26 houses.
Another defendant was arrested after police found methamphetamine, scales, baggies, drug proceeds, a surveillance camera and "a scanner set to TPD frequency" during a search of her apartment, the suit alleges.
One defendant was arrested in November 2012 after police found marijuana, digital scales and baggies in his possession.
"I want to be the weed guy," the man told police. "I sell weed when it is slow between jobs."
Adams said he plans to continue pursuing such cases, in spite of skepticism from some fellow attorneys.
"There's no shortage of drug dealers and no shortage of kids hurt by their parents using illegal drugs," he said.
Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306
ziva.branstetter@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Drug dealers sued on children's behalf
