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A wrongful death trial against a Colorado strip club scheduled to begin in November had to be postponed after a lawyer involved in the case died at the same strip club.
The family of Randall Wright sued Shotgun Willie's after he died following a fight at the strip club in 2019. His family claimed that he got into a fight with another customer and was tackled and put in a chokehold by bartender Derek Hendricks, leading to his death.
Lawyers for Shotgun Willie's asked for a delay in the trial after defense attorney Steve Long died at the strip club on October 1. According to KCNC, Long had several drinks while playing cards with one of the entertainers at the club. One of the employees thought he may have also taken hallucinogenic drugs.
When Long decided to leave, the club's manager asked another employee to take him home. Instead, they put him in his car so he could sleep. Employees checked in on him throughout the night and called the police when they realized he had stopped breathing.
He was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
During a hearing on delaying the trial, Long's co-counsel, Peter Middleton, admitted that the situation was "kind of weird."
"The timing of this was just awful for everybody," he said.
Reid Elkus, an attorney for the Wright family, argued against delaying the trial.
"The case is now ripe for trial," Elkus said. "Justice delayed is justice not served."
The judge ruled in favor of Shotgun Willie's and said that the trial would be delayed until after the new year.
Wright's family is seeking $5 million in their wrongful death suit against the strip club.