Complaint filed for death at Gorge in 2002
EPHRATA — A wrongful death claim was filed July 19 in Grant County Superior Court against the House of Blues Concerts Inc. and other presenters of the hip-hop concert KUBE Summer Jam at the Gorge Amphitheatre.
Leonard Eugene Smaldino, 47, of Seattle, was fatally shot with a 9mm handgun in July of 2002 at the campground next to the Gorge Amphitheatre after a Summer Jam concert.
According to the Grant County Sheriff's Office, a suspect for the shooting was never found.
Bruce Moen, acting as the administrator and representative of Smaldino's estate, filed the claim.
The legal complaint seeks relief and damage compensation from House of Blues, Clear Channel Communications Inc., Clear Channel Broadcasting Inc., Ackerley Media Group, Inc., and The Ackerley Group Inc.
Moen alleges that the companies named were the ones who controlled and promoted the hip-hop concert without adequate security.
Court documents state that, "House of Blues Concerts, Inc., having noticed that there was a need for enhanced security measures at this particular concert and related facilities, negligently failed to take such measures … negligently continued to promote and advertise the concert and the use of related facilities."
House of Blues Concert General Manager Bill Parsons said in a Tuesday interview, "I haven't been notified and I don't know anything about it."
The 2002 Summer Jam show pushed Grant County officials to request the House of Blues to no longer bring shows with "a consistently violent following" to the county.
A letter sent to Parsons dated July 29, 2002 and signed by the Grant County Board of Commissioners, Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell and then-Grant County Sheriff Michael Shay stated: "It has become clear to Grant County officials that no amount of monetary gain or entertainment value can possibly outweigh the losses related to a concert such as this."
The letter went on to describe the 2001 Summer Jam as "one of the most work-intensive and violent concert crowds in Gorge history" with 53 arrests and more than 31 transports to local hospitals. The letter also stated that the 2002 Summer Jam had ended in reported robberies, a gang rape, a stabbing and the shooting death of Smaldino. Two other persons were also injured by random gunfire that year.
The House of Blues worked with Grant County to make improvements to security at the Gorge following the letter's issuance.
The Gorge campground nearby the amphitheater has been closed the last three years during Summer Jam, which has decreased some of the problems in Grant County associated with that concert.
"The problems they're having over in Kittitas County, we would have had over here," said GCSO Chief Criminal Deputy John Turley. He added that the GCSO has had to devote fewer man hours for security at the event since camping after the show ended at The Gorge. During this past weekend's Summer Jam concert, the GCSO booked only six persons into the Grant County Jail. Most criminal activities were minor in possessions and trespassing.
However, Summer Jam has taxed the resources of the Kittitas County Sheriff's Office which reported a busy weekend this year in campsites near Vantage. Kittitas sheriffs reported fights, assaults, public displays of sex acts and many traffic problems.
The House of Blues had a contract to continue hosting the annual Summer Jam concert, but that ended this year.
The future of Summer Jam at the Gorge is unknown.
"We just finished wrapping up this year's concert. We haven't made up next year's schedule yet," Parsons said.