Carrie Fisher has lost a bid to end a lawsuit involving a woman who fatally overdosed on heroin, and who had allegedly received drug treatment, at the actor’s property.
A judge denied the “Star Wars” actress’ motion for summary judgment in the suit last week, finding that Fisher “failed to meet her burden to establish that she cannot be found responsible, as a matter of law” in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Fisher and others were sued in 2011 by Gianna Breliant, the mother of Amy Breliant, who died of a drug overdose in 2010, according to the suit.
Breliant claims that her daughter received rehabilitation treatment from Warren Boyd, a former drug abuser turned interventionist whose story served as inspiration for the A&E series “The Cleaner.” According to Breliant’s complaint, Fisher offered her guest house as a shelter for Amy Breliant and other of Boyd’s clients, “in return for a share of Boyd’s profit or revenue, equal to cash payments of $10,000 weekly.”
Breliant was later moved to another another residence provided to Boyd (also named as a defendant), the suit says, where she “received an overdose of drugs including heroin or morphine which caused her death.” (The second residence was not owned by Fisher.)
The lawsuit claims that Fisher “agreed to assist Boyd in his illegal and wrongful activity” by offering her residence.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision ordering Carrie Fisher to stand trial, and we look forward to our day in court and obtaining justice for Amy Breliant,” the elder Breliant’s attorney, Stephen G. Larson of Larson O’Brien LLP, told TheWrap in a statement.
“As explained in our court documents, Warren Boyd used Carrie Fisher‘s celebrity status to lend credibility to advance his corrupt drug rehabilitation program. We believe the evidence will show this was nothing short of his greed-driven fraud scheme designed to make money and keep clients hooked on deadly drugs, resulting in Amy’s tragic death.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.