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The victim in a shooting at Roseburg High School Feb. 23, 2006, is suing the school, the shooter, the shooter’s parents and another student.
Joseph Monti, now 18, has filed a complaint in Douglas County Circuit Court asking for $200,000 in lost wages and future earning capacity, $147,724.48 in medical expenses, $250,000 for pain and suffering and $7,500 in actual damages.
Vincent Leodoro has been ordered by the court to pay Monti $117,364 in restitution. Monti and Vincent Leodoro were both students at Roseburg High School two years ago.
Leodoro shot Monti four times in the back. He was convicted of attempted murder, first-degree assault and several weapons charges. He received the maximum sentence and could stay in juvenile detention until his 25th birthday.
Monti returned to Roseburg High School in October of 2006 and left the following May.
Monti’s attorney, Dennis Black of Medford, said Monti is still living in Roseburg. He said he waited as long as possible to file the suit.
“You don’t want to file a lawsuit until you’re sure you know the full extent of the effects of the injury your client has sustained,” Black said.
A Mercy Medical Center surgeon testified during Leodoro’s trial that Monti suffered serious injuries, including nerve damage causing numbness to his foot.
Monti’s lawsuit claims that Leodoro’s stepfather and his mother were negligent because they didn’t keep their semiautomatic pistol and hollow-point ammunition secured. Efforts to reach Leodoro’s parents were unsuccessful.
Monti’s complaint said another student at Roseburg High, who is currently a juvenile and still attending RHS, helped Leodoro obtain and use the pistol and provoked him to “anger and destructive action.”
The student was never arrested during the case, and police reports do not indicated that anyone helped Leodoro obtain or use the pistol.
“There’s a large difference between the standard of conduct that invokes criminal liability and the standard of conduct that can invoke civil liability,” Black said.
The complaint accuses the Roseburg School District of failing to have reasonable security procedures in place to prevent shootings on school property. It says the district should have known minors were likely to engage in dangerous activity and allowed the use of firearms on school premises.
Monti is also suing Leodoro for shooting him.
Phil Lemman, deputy director for the Oregon Youth Authority, said there are limited opportunities for youths to earn money while they are in custody, so it’s unlikely Leodoro has paid any restitution yet.
“We try to provide as many vocational opportunities as we can,” Lemman said.
The agency has camps where youths can do supervised community work, but they usually go to those camps toward the end of their sentence.
“They are for the high privilege youth who have demonstrated good behavior,” Lemman said.
Roseburg School Superintendent Lee Paterson referred questions about the lawsuit to Karen Vickers, the attorney hired by the district’s insurance company.
Paterson did say the shooting was a shame.
“We expressed support for Joe at that time,” he said. Paterson said no one disputed Monti was in serious medical condition, and school staff wanted the best for him. He said he was thankful for the quick response of emergency personnel and school staff in providing first aid.
Generally if a student is injured on school property, cases are referred to the family’s primary medical insurance, Paterson said. From there, the insurance company could try to collect money from the school’s insurance company.
Vickers said the case is in its beginning stages, and it usually takes at least a year before such a case would get to trial. Black agreed.
Joseph Monti, now 18, has filed a complaint in Douglas County Circuit Court asking for $200,000 in lost wages and future earning capacity, $147,724.48 in medical expenses, $250,000 for pain and suffering and $7,500 in actual damages.
Vincent Leodoro has been ordered by the court to pay Monti $117,364 in restitution. Monti and Vincent Leodoro were both students at Roseburg High School two years ago.
Leodoro shot Monti four times in the back. He was convicted of attempted murder, first-degree assault and several weapons charges. He received the maximum sentence and could stay in juvenile detention until his 25th birthday.
Monti returned to Roseburg High School in October of 2006 and left the following May.
Monti’s attorney, Dennis Black of Medford, said Monti is still living in Roseburg. He said he waited as long as possible to file the suit.
“You don’t want to file a lawsuit until you’re sure you know the full extent of the effects of the injury your client has sustained,” Black said.
A Mercy Medical Center surgeon testified during Leodoro’s trial that Monti suffered serious injuries, including nerve damage causing numbness to his foot.
Monti’s lawsuit claims that Leodoro’s stepfather and his mother were negligent because they didn’t keep their semiautomatic pistol and hollow-point ammunition secured. Efforts to reach Leodoro’s parents were unsuccessful.
Monti’s complaint said another student at Roseburg High, who is currently a juvenile and still attending RHS, helped Leodoro obtain and use the pistol and provoked him to “anger and destructive action.”
The student was never arrested during the case, and police reports do not indicated that anyone helped Leodoro obtain or use the pistol.
“There’s a large difference between the standard of conduct that invokes criminal liability and the standard of conduct that can invoke civil liability,” Black said.
The complaint accuses the Roseburg School District of failing to have reasonable security procedures in place to prevent shootings on school property. It says the district should have known minors were likely to engage in dangerous activity and allowed the use of firearms on school premises.
Monti is also suing Leodoro for shooting him.
Phil Lemman, deputy director for the Oregon Youth Authority, said there are limited opportunities for youths to earn money while they are in custody, so it’s unlikely Leodoro has paid any restitution yet.
“We try to provide as many vocational opportunities as we can,” Lemman said.
The agency has camps where youths can do supervised community work, but they usually go to those camps toward the end of their sentence.
“They are for the high privilege youth who have demonstrated good behavior,” Lemman said.
Roseburg School Superintendent Lee Paterson referred questions about the lawsuit to Karen Vickers, the attorney hired by the district’s insurance company.
Paterson did say the shooting was a shame.
“We expressed support for Joe at that time,” he said. Paterson said no one disputed Monti was in serious medical condition, and school staff wanted the best for him. He said he was thankful for the quick response of emergency personnel and school staff in providing first aid.
Generally if a student is injured on school property, cases are referred to the family’s primary medical insurance, Paterson said. From there, the insurance company could try to collect money from the school’s insurance company.
Vickers said the case is in its beginning stages, and it usually takes at least a year before such a case would get to trial. Black agreed.
