Articles Romano's Rage The Tail Wags the Dog? Savell Family Files Wrongful Death Suit Against Chinese GH Manufacturer!
The family of Amanda Savell files suit against Chinese drug company of her murder.
Before I get into this I want to say two things. First, I agonized for days over whether or not I should even write this because what I'm about to say is the truth, and as we all know, the truth hurts, and the last thing I want to do is bring any more pain to Amanda Savell's family. Secondly, I am the father of two grown daughters. It's very safe to say that, as their father, I would have no compunction whatsoever to spending the rest of my life on death row for gruesomely and protractedly ending the life of a jacked up scumbag who murdered either one of them. Burying a child, especially burying a child who was heinously murdered by a stark, raving, coward has got to rank at the very top of life's most incontestable woes. It's hard to even imagine this happening, let alone having to live the rest of your life with the images of your child's last horrific hours etched in your mind for eternity. So, to the family and friends of our dearly departed Amanda Savell, this is not meant to inflame nor disrespect your loss, but rather to comment on what I can only surmise is the work of a greedy, inept, yet convincing, lawyer trying to make a name for himself on the coat tails of a highly public national debate.
No bit of common sense nor knowledge of the compounds alleged to be involved could possibly be employed in concocting the travesty being foisted upon Amanda's family in so far as any lawyer would allow them to follow through with a law suit that has about as much of a chance of prevailing as it does bringing back their daughter. It is the classic tale of pursuing free range branta without cause and it'll do nothing but cause Amanda's family more pain and suffering.
If you haven't already gathered, the parents of IFBB Pro Fitness competitor Amanda Savell, who was brutally murdered in 2008 by her convicted steroid-dealer turned informant jerk-off ex-boyfriend Dave Jacobs, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jacobs' alleged Chinese steroid suppliers, saying their products caused Jacobs to experience roid rage and that rage directly caused him to kill Amanda.
Amanda's parents filed the suit in Marshall, Texas, on June 4 against Lei Jin, a Chinese national with a residence in Wisconsin, and his company, GeneScience Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., in Shanghai. The suit also lists 50 "John Doe" corporations and individuals. The latter defendants are described in court documents as co-conspirators "in the scheme to illegally produce, market, sell and buy anabolic steroids and human growth hormone."
If you remember, on June 5th, 2008, the bodies of Amanda Savell and Dave Jacobs were found in the midst of Jacobs' nearly destroyed house. It has been presumed that Amanda was there to collect her belongings and move out after breaking up with Jacobs when a severe and prolonged violent struggle ensued that resulted in what authorities have determined was a murder-suicide. It's also important to note that Jacobs was sentenced May 1, 2008 to probation after pleading guilty to operating what officials claim was "one of the country's largest illegal steroid networks." Jacobs' plea deal required that he cooperate with authorities in a federal steroid investigation, including giving them the names of certain high-profile NFL players he said he allegedly supplied. Amanda was not involved in Jacobs' steroid dealings, nor was she implicated in his case.
While searching Jacobs' house during the murder investigation, narcotics detectives found steroids. Toxicology tests later showed Jacobs had a high level of testosterone and nandrolone in his system when he died. Therefore, it's being presumed that it was the steroids in Jacobs' system that caused him to fly into a murderous rage and kill Amanda and himself. While no evidence exists in this case that precludes all other compounds Jacobs may have been using at the time of the murder, the lawsuit contend that "roid rage" is "a well-documented dangerous reaction from the unlawful use of steroids." Amanda's father (not a lawyer nor a clinician) bolsters the presumption with such empirical evidence as,
"I used to run fitness centers. I've seen guys go crazy on steroids. The worst thing about steroids is that they work. They also work on you mentally."
So, that means it's got to be the steroids, right? It couldn't possibly be the recreational and prescription drugs Jacobs was known to use. Or the fact that Jacobs was just a violent asshole. Steroids were in the house, and in Jacobs, so it must have been the steroids. It couldn't possibly be anything else, right?
According to the lawsuit, GeneScience manufactured and exported human growth hormone under the brand name GenLei, Jintropin, and anabolic steroids (Note, I think this is an error because GeneScience does not produce anabolic steroids). Therefore, in the absence of Dave Jacobs - the de facto murderer - the family is deferring the blame for Amanda's murder to Lei Jin and his company. According to the complaint,
"It was foreseeable to the Defendants that the unlawful use of their products without the prior FDA approval, supervision of a physician, or properly prescribed and administered would lead to a violent change in the conduct of the end user such as David Jacobs."
The lawsuit goes on to accuse the defendants of violating several state and federal laws through the production, marketing and sale of both anabolic steroids and human growth hormone. It also accuses the defendants of demonstrating a conscious disregard of the welfare of others and being motivated by profits. Amanda's family is seeking monetary damages for the following:
Can they win? It's highly doubtful. Clinically, "roid rage" is a term given to people who act in a very aggressive or hostile manner after taking large doses, usually on a regular basis, of anabolic steroids. In recent times, several prominent murders and brutal attacks have been linked to roid rage, which might suggest a person is less responsible for committing a crime. This is not always an adequate defense given that people who take anabolic steroids tend to do so willingly. Further, roid rage resulting in violent behavior may be a little more complex than it is generally portrayed in the media.
There have been several clinical studies assessing roid rage, and it does turn out that people who are most likely to experience it are also most likely, prior to steroid use, to be extremely angry, hostile or violent. This suggests that roid rage may occur most in those who are already at risk for violent behavior. These studies further suggest that roid rage is not a suitable legal defense for committing violent acts, since the person who claims it as a defense may have already had tendencies toward violence. These tendencies or violent acts can further be a side effect of ending steroid use, since the mood-elevating properties of steroids, when suddenly cut off, could result in violent behavior.
Roid rage is still quite controversial and courts have difficulty accepting it as a legal defense for violent crimes. But does it work the other way around? If roid rage is considered a weak defense, can it be cited as a strong offense? If you can't blame steroids for making you violent (as a defense), then how can the prosecution use it to effectively aid in your prosecution?
Originally coined by Dr. David Datz of the Harvard Medical School, roid rage caused by anabolic steroids was used successfully for the first time in 1993 in California to explain a bodybuilder's uncontrollable rage in strangling his girlfriend to death. However, such convictions do not rely solely on steroid use and, statistically, there are not very many successful prosecutions that rely on roid rage as the sole motivation for the murder. Experts who have conducted clinical tests and research on roid rage say that, to be fair, the drugs can't just turn a "regular, ordinary" guy into a killing machine. In most cases, the person who went into roid rage already had signs of over aggressiveness and hostility even before he ever used steroids. When the person takes the drugs, these feelings may be heightened. Or, the temporary "feelings of invincibility" they get from the steroids may come to such an abrupt end once the treatment is cut that the person suddenly experiences a "violent outburst." Instead, the onus is put on people who take steroids to monitor their behavior and mood - they must be responsible for their behavior, not the drugs.
How does this play out in court? Well, in a criminal prosecution, every criminal charge is comprised of multiple components, known as 'necessary elements'. One such element common to both first degree murder and the crime of torture is specific intent. Voluntary intoxication (by voluntary consumption of a legally obtained substance) may, in fact, negate the element of specific intent - thereby resulting in a verdict of not guilty or, in a case where the Jury has been instructed to consider lesser included offenses, mitigating the charges to a lower level.
The defense strategy would play out like this: At trial, the Prosecutor must prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt. Hence, where there is a reasonable doubt of any size - big or small - with respect to any one of the necessary elements of the charge, the Jury must return a verdict of not guilty.
In a criminal prosecution, the goal of the prosecutor is to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has been committed. There may be contributing factors as to why the crime was committed, but that is really not the goal. In this case, there is no doubt a crime was committed and who committed it. The question here, since the would-be criminal defendant is dead, is if the steroids he took directly caused - not contributed to, but actually caused - Jacobs to kill Amanda. That is a civil matter.
In a civil proceeding, the plaintiff's case must be proved by a preponderance of evidence, meaning that the plaintiff - in this case Amanda's family - must convince the judge or jury that their version of the facts is more likely than not, and that they are entitled to judgment. This degree of proof is sometimes called presenting a prima facie case, or "crossing the 51 percent line", because the plaintiff must out prove the defendant is liable by more than half the evidence.
In certain cases, such as those involving fraud, misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and probate contests, the plaintiff must prove his or her case by clear and convincing evidence, which is a higher standard and more difficult to meet that a mere preponderance.
There are so many holes in this case it's not even imaginable. As I stated, in a criminal case, the prosecution is trying to prove that a crime was committed. We already know that here. What the plaintiff is trying to prove is that the products manufactured by GeneScience directly caused Amanda's death. The burden of proof in that regard is unimaginable even if it is only on a mere preponderance of the evidence.
The question here is not whether steroids cause rage that can provoke an otherwise peaceful person to commit murder. A decent lawyer could put on a case and show at least a preponderance of evidence that steroids might contribute to murderous rage in some individuals. Once again, the damages in this case are sought against the defendant Lei Jin because the plaintiff asserts that his products directly caused Dave Jacobs to murder Amanda Savell. This is ridiculous and nearly impossible to prove to any degree. Jacobs is dead. He can't be interviewed, deposed, studied, or assessed in any clinical manner that would provide any evidence - exculpatory or not - to the cause and effect of the steroids in his body had on his brain. There is also no clear and convincing evidence that the drugs in Jacobs body were even manufactured by GeneScience, nor is there any evidence that GeneScience produced drugs capable of enticing rage.
GeneScience markets 6 approved products in China, including JintropinTM somatropin (rhGH for injection), JintropinTM AQ somatropin liquid pen, ScimaxTM filgrastim (rhG-CSF injection), GranmacTM molgramostim (rhGM-CSF for injection), JintrotideTM (octreotide acetate for injection) and JintrirelinTM (triptorelin acetate injection). None of these are testosterone or testosterone derivatives or nandrolone. It is only the GH that is relevant to Jacobs case and GH is benign when it comes to altering mood or inciting rage. Lawyers for the plaintiffs may have other testimony or other evidence to the contrary - that GeneScience did in fact produce anabolic items, however that remains to be seen. As far as we know they don't.
GeneScience core product, GenLei® JintropinTM (rhGH, somatropin for injection) has been the leading brand of GH in China with a dominant 70% of the market share. Tons of it make it over here and to the rest of the of the world as well. GeneScience profitability has been ranked No. 1 among Chinese biopharmaceutical companies. Is this the kind of company enlisting 50 "John Doe defendants and corporations in order to illegally sell juice to muscle heads in America? And do these corporations produce testosterone and or testosterone analogues and derivatives? For arguments sake, let's say they did. There is no way to prove that Jacobs specifically took those drugs. And there is no way to clearly and convincingly prove that those drugs caused Jacobs to murder Amanda. At the very best it's a stretch.
This case is going nowhere except to publicly flatter the scoundrel who's bringing the case on behalf of a bereaved and devastated and unfortunately gullible family. I'm sure council for the plaintiffs see "number one profitability in China" and think that GeneScience has deep pockets and have taken the case on a contingency hoping they can pervert the death of an innocent woman into a windfall for their firm and make them famous. I'd sue the lawyers. Better yet, it would be a shorter stretch to sue the gun manufacturer since there is no doubt Jacobs directly used their product to kill Amanda (I know there is a statute that prohibits such action however I still think it has a better chance than this case). Or, how about suing the cops that let a known steroid abuser out of jail so he could rat out other steroid users. If it's being presumed that it's a well-known fact that steroids cause murderous rage then the cops should have known that Jacobs was a threat to anyone around him. Since that's the case a lawyer is willing to bring to court then why would the cops let Jacobs walk the streets? Sue the cops, sue the gun manufacturer; it would even be a shorter stretch to sue Joe Weider for creating the sport that motivated Jacobs to use steroids in the first place! But sue a Chinaman for making the products that no one can prove Jacobs took? All I see are lawyers getting rich on this one if they win and if they can collect. Can you imagine trying to collect from a Chinese company in China? That will never happen and no one is bringing back Amanda.
Mark my words, this case hasn't got a chance in hell of ever coming out in the plaintiff's favor. It's two years after the fact. Let it go. All this case is really going to do is cause Amanda's family to re-live the whole horrific scene of their daughter's death. They're never going to get a dime.
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