Lawyer not liable in slaying of PI killed while trying to serve divorce papers, top state court says
A Virginia lawyer had no special duty to warn a private investigator he retained to serve divorce papers. Hence, the attorney is not liable in the Pi’s slaying, even though the attorney knew the target of the divorce was armed and had been told the target was “behaving strangely,” the state’s top court says.
In two complaints, the victim’s wife, Debara Brown, alleged that attorney Sherwin John Jacobs should have alerted her husband, Arthur Gregory Brown, that Ali Al-Ibrahim Abid, who was being served, allegedly carried a gun and might use it. Concerned that Abid might be violent, the attorney even researched to see whether the firearm could be taken away from him, she contended. But the Virginia Supreme Court agreed that a Rockingham County Circuit Court judge correctly dismissed her complaint because the lawyer had no duty to warn Brown about Abid.
Abid apparently has not been tried or convicted in Brown’s slaying, although Brown’s wife has obtained a civil judgment against him.
“There is no reason to presume that the decedent would be less experienced in serving process and handling tense situations than an attorney,” the court said in a written opinion (PDF) issued on Feb. 26. The court also noted that Brown was an independent contractor, the owner of a private investigation company and was free to serve Abid in any manner he thought appropriate.
Soon after Brown’s body was found in the trunk of Abid’s car in 2011, Harrisonburg police got a warrant for Abid’s arrest on charges of first-degree murder and using a firearm in commission of first-degree murder. WHSV reported at the time. It appears from news reports that Abid had not been apprehended.
Hat tip: Courthouse News
Related coverage:
DGR Legal Blog: “Attorney Being Sued Over Failure to Warn Process Server”
See also:
Pursuit: “Private Investigator Arthur Greg Brown Found Murdered PI Community Mourns the Loss of a Professional”
National Post: “Canadian wanted in connection to U.S. murder flees to Iraqi homeland”
