Riverside is going to have difficulty proving the manufacturer of the handgun on the lap of a young black woman killed by police in 1998 is responsible for her death, said a USC legal scholar.

"It seems the city is going to have a tough time passing the straight-face test," said Jody David Armour, a law professor at the University of Southern California. "It seems it will be hard for a judge to give serious consideration to that argument," he said.

And the former president of the company that made the gun said Friday that the city is shirking its responsibility for the death of Tyisha Miller.

"The city is attempting to turn this into a gun-control issue and everyone has Second Amendment rights," said James Waldorf, who last year stepped down as president of the defunct Lorcin Engineering Co.

On Thursday, attorneys for the city of Riverside sued Lorcin in federal court, stating the company should pay damages that could stem from litigation over the death of the 19-year-old black woman killed by four white officers at a Riverside gas station on Dec. 28, 1998.

Skip Miller, the Los Angeles attorney defending the city, said manufacturers of cheap guns have lost similar cases.

"These claims have been upheld in several courts," Miller said. "I respectfully disagree with the professor."

Lorcin failed to educate and train users of its guns and "misuse of its products could subject them to deadly force . . . at the hands of law enforcement," the lawsuit states.

Lorcin, known for making guns that retail for around $100 each, has been "just pumping out thousands and thousands of guns without taking any responsibility for where they wind up," Skip Miller said. " . . . The weapon should not have been on Tyisha's Miller's lap."

Miller was unresponsive in a locked car with a .380-caliber Lorcin handgun in her lap when relatives called 911 fearing she was ill. Police have said four white officers were trying to rescue Miller from the car. However, the officers opened fire when she reached for the gun, police have said.

Miller got the stolen gun from a friend, according to the city's suit.

The shooting spurred numerous protests that attracted nationally known civil rights leaders and put Riverside in the national spotlight. Miller's family subsequently sued the city in federal court for wrongful death.

Lorcin's Waldorf said Riverside officials "are out to save their necks."

"They say they are concerned for her (Tyisha Miller's) well being, so they shot her 28 times," Waldorf said. "From what I read of the situation, there's at least one dozen ways they could have handled it differently."

Armour, author of Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism: The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America, agreed that there are more-compelling arguments that the city -- not the gun manufacturer -- is responsible for Millers death.

For example, a memo written by then Police Chief Jerry Carroll stated the officers formed and executed an "unreasonably dangerous plan," which put both Miller's and police officers' lives at risk.

Armour added that Riverside would face challenges in collecting from Lorcin because the Mira Loma company has gone out of business.

Facing 18 municipal lawsuits, Lorcin closed its doors last year.

It has since filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate its assets, Waldorf said.

Skip Miller, however, said the city will go after any new company formed by former Lorcin officials.

To do so, the city would have to prove the new company was formed as a ruse or strategy to avoid its legal obligations, Skip Miller and Armour agreed.

Waldorf said he has formed a new company, Standard Arms Inc. of Nevada, that makes a handgun that retails for about $300.

If Riverside goes after Standard Arms, "We will file a cross complaint," Waldorf said.

Andrew Roth, an attorney for Tyisha Miller's family, said the city's action against the gun manufacturer doesn't affect their suit against the city.

Published 4/8/2000