Did lawyers in Hedingham shooting lawsuit use ‘hallucinated’ citation?

A new filing in the civil suit tied to a Raleigh mass shooting alleges lawyers for the plaintiffs used what the filing calls a “hallucinated” case citation.

The lawsuit, which was filed in October 2024, alleges the killings could have been prevented, claiming then-15-year-old Austin Thompson was a known problem in the Hedingham neighborhood in East Raleigh. The Hedingham Community Association, the property management company, Thompson’s parents and a private security company hired to patrol the neighborhood are all defendants in the case.

Thompson killed five people, including his own brother, and seriously injured two in the Oct. 13, 2022, shooting. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole in February after pleading guilty to all charges against him.

The estates for the deceased victims, excluding Thompson’s older brother, and the two surviving victims are the plaintiffs in the case. Now, their lawyers stand accused of withholding information from the suit’s defendants and improperly citing nonexistent or irrelevant cases.

“[T]he Estate Plaintiffs have repeatedly relied on what appears to be a hallucinated case citation to circumvent their obligation to conduct a good-faith search for responsive information and documentation,” wrote Kaitlin Myers, a lawyer representing H.R.W. Inc., Hedingham’s property management company, in the March 23 court filing.

The filing asks for a judge to order the plaintiffs to provide more thorough responses as part of the discovery process. During discovery, both sides have the right to ask each other questions pertinent to the case and provide relevant evidence. Myers’ motion alleges the plaintiffs are depriving H.R.W. and the other defendants of all the relevant information they deserve.

The N&O emailed attorneys for both sides for comment on March 24, but neither responded.

The motion includes allegations that:

• The plaintiffs will not or cannot provide specific names of people they said they discussed Thompson’s prior behavior with.
• The plaintiffs will not or cannot provide evidence that H.R.W. and the Hedingham HOA had been informed of prior allegations against Thompson.
• The plaintiffs’ counsel did not respond to an email and two letters sent by H.R.W. between June and Dec. 29 asking for more detailed responses. The parties met in January and worked out a supplemental response, which H.R.W. alleges did not suffice.
• At least six of the plaintiffs testified during depositions they had never read or been asked to review the discovery responses attributed to them by their lawyers.
• At least three of the plaintiffs representing the deceased victims testified they’d never been asked to review cellphones and diaries belonging to their loved ones for pertinent information.

“Despite having served the discovery requests over ten months ago, Plaintiffs have produced few meaningful responses,” Myers wrote. “As it stands now, it is unclear whether Plaintiffs are withholding or have not produced responsive information or whether they simply have no responsive information.”

The motion also alleges the plaintiffs’ lawyers cited a court case that doesn’t exist and an irrelevant court case in their responses justifying why they didn’t have to provide certain information.

“Plaintiff cites Koontz v. Thomas, 148 N.C. App. 260, 263 (2002), as support for its failure to respond to this interrogatory,” the motion says. “As a preliminary matter, the case cited does not appear to exist.”

There is a South Carolina case under that title, but that wouldn’t be applicable in North Carolina nor would it address the issues at hand, according to the motion. The case number cited is tied to a case titled Dolan v. Dolan, a divorce case that also wouldn’t be relevant, the motion alleges.

“This Court should overrule any and all objections based on this improper case citation,” Myers wrote.

Should a judge rule in its favor, H.R.W. is requesting reimbursement for attorneys’ fees for the time spent on the case, according to the motion. A hearing date had not been set as of Wednesday afternoon.

Lexi Solomon

The News & Observer

Lexi Solomon joined The News & Observer in August 2024 as the emerging news reporter. She previously worked in Fayetteville at The Fayetteville Observer and CityView, reporting on crime, education and local government. She is a 2022 graduate of Virginia Tech with degrees in Russian and National Security & Foreign Affairs.