Report: Murray accuser files new lawsuit, includes Seattle

Delvonn Heckard has filed a new lawsuit against former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. But this time, he is also targeting the City of Seattle.

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The Seattle Times reports that Heckard, 46, has filed a new lawsuit in King County Superior Court. He has included the City of Seattle in the latest legal action. The lawsuit argues that the city enabled Murray to use his political position to slander alleged victims. It also calls out Councilmember Bruce Harrell and Sally Bagshaw for “empowering Murray’s attacks on victims by refusing to seek the mayor’s removal from office,” the Times reports.

The new lawsuit echoes Heckard’s first. It claims that when Heckard was 15 years old, he would often meet Murray — then 32 years old — on a bus in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Heckard again alleges that Murray fostered a relationship with him, often paying him in exchange for sex at Murray’s Capitol Hill apartment.

Old and new lawsuit against Murray

In April, Heckard accused Murray of molesting him as a minor in the ’90s. He filed a lawsuit against the then mayor. Since that time, a total of five accusers have come forth with similar allegations. Most recently, Murray’s cousin alleged that he molested him as a child. Murray resigned shortly after that and has denied the allegations.

Heckard dropped his first lawsuit against Murray in June, saying that he wanted to complete drug rehab before proceeding with legal action. He filed a $3 million legal claim with the city, arguing that Murray used his position as mayor to defame him.

Heckard’s new lawsuit connects information that the previous legal action alleged. For example, Heckard had previously described another boy that would visit Murray’s apartment. The latest lawsuit says that Jeff Simpson matches the description of that boy. Simpson has spoken publicly of his own allegations against Murray since Heckard first came forth in April. A total of five accusers have come forward since that time.

Heckard’s new lawsuit lays out a timeline of events following the first lawsuit, noting that Murray claimed the allegations were part of an anti-gay conspiracy against him. Heckard also claims that his first lawsuit could not be successful while Murray was in office, wielding political power. It references the recent controversy involving Harvey Weinstein as an example of persons using great power to silence victims.

The new lawsuit states (in part):

Mr. Murray, and his political hit team, used his position of power as mayor to immediately begin slandering the known victims, including Delvonn … Mr. Murray’s use and abuse of his position of power proved temporarily successful: Delvonn and his legal team became convinced that winning this lawsuit was impossible while Murray remained in office. Mr. Murray and his legal team employed unscrupulous tactics to defame Delvonn, and his legal team. Those efforts, and the mayoral influence, swayed public perceptions and Delvonn’s ability to receive fair and equal treatment in the court system … when Delvonn and his legal team attempted to respond in accord with civil rules, they system attacked them, including imposing sanctions at a court hearing without due process …

 

 

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