Chatsworth Tour Firm Sued Over Safari Shooting Death of Unborn Baby

With jury selection scheduled Monday, a judge has issued a flurry of pretrial rulings in a lawsuit by a Redondo Beach couple suing Chatsworth-based Brendan Tours Inc. after the woman's unborn baby was shot and killed during a trip to Africa.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien issued his decisions Wednesday in the lawsuit brought in March 2009 by Rg and Jacqueline Lutz, as well as Raymond Mollica of Floral Park, a village on Long Island, N.Y.

One of the rulings allows the plaintiffs' lawyers to tell jurors that Jacqueline Lutz's fetus was "killed," but not "murdered."

Defense attorneys maintained in their court papers that both words were too prejudicial. They also stated that California does not have a cause of action for the wrongful death of a fetus and that the Lutz couple had dropped the claim from their suit.

"Armed bandits, not Brendan or its employees, shot the plaintiffs and this inflammatory language will serve no purpose at trial other than to prejudice the jury against Brendan," the company's court papers stated.

Lawyers for the Lutzes and Mollica allege Brendan Tours made "numerous representations and sales pitches" that led their clients to believe everyone involved in their tours were company employees.

"Brendan promised plaintiffs the world and plaintiffs believed Brendan," according to the negligence suit. "What they got instead was a disastrous safari that resulted in multiple gunshot wounds and a [slain] fetus."

Brendan Tours has denied any wrongdoing. Defense attorneys say the company did not select the activities on the safari to Tanzania and did not employ the two nature walk guides who were with the Lutz couple and Mollica when the bandits attacked them during their "Splendor in the Serengeti" tour in March 2007.

Jacqueline Lutz, who was four months pregnant, was shot in the stomach and the bullet killed her unborn child. Mollica was shot and wounded in the left leg.

One of the tour guides, ironically named Charles Safari, was shot in the head and died.

The incident occurred while the tourists were sightseeing at Lake Duluti near Arusha, Tanzania. The plaintiffs blame the surviving tour guide, Charles Herman, for precipitating the incident by trying to disarm the second bandit, who was holding a machete.

Rg Lutz planned the tour on behalf of himself, his wife and Mollica and ultimately chose Brendan Tours, according to the plaintiffs' court papers.

"Convinced by the representations on Brendan's website regarding its skill and experience in putting together tours and Brendan's personal attention to safety, plaintiffs booked the Brendan tour," the plaintiffs' court papers state. "As it turns out, Brendan does nothing for its clients other than pass on packaged vacations through travel brokers."

The Lutz couple and Mollica say they did not know until after the tragedy that Brendan Tours contracted the trip with another agency, which in turn contracted with still other companies.

"Plaintiffs assumed all of the personnel on the tour were Brendan personnel and rightly so because that is what Brendan says," the plaintiffs' court papers state.

Patricia Guerra, an investigator for the plaintiffs, conducted an interview with Herman that she recounted in a sworn statement. She said Herman defended his actions after the bandits confronted them, according to Guerra.

"Herman ... explained that the reason he ... jumped the guy with the machete was because the guy had the machete above his head as they were ordered to sit down," Guerra stated. "The guy never made any additional threat that made Herman believe that the bandits were going to harm or kill him or the clients. Herman said his intention was to get the bandits away from them."

— City News Service