BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A Los Altos High School graduate who sold pills laced with fentanyl to his friend at Stanford, resulting in a fatal overdose, may be sued by the friend’s family under the Drug Dealer Liability Act, a Santa Clara County judge has ruled.
Matthew Carpenter, 22, admitted to buying pills online and having them shipped to his friend Eitan Weiner’s fraternity house.
Weiner died after snorting one of the pills on Jan. 17, 2020, and Carpenter pleaded guilty to buying the drugs on the dark web and having them mailed to Weiner.
Carpenter was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service on May 5.
A series of civil lawsuits followed. Former Theta Delta Chi fraternity members sued Stanford for suspending them and kicking them out of their house. Weiner’s sister and parents, who are Stanford professors, sued the fraternity, the university, three of Weiner’s roommates and Carpenter for causing the wrongful death of Weiner.
Carpenter’s lawyer filed a motion asking Judge Socrates Peter Manoukian to dismiss his client from the Weiners’ lawsuit.
Manoukian ruled on Nov. 23 that Carpenter is liable under the Drug Dealer Liability Act, which says that family members can recover economic damages from those who market illegal drugs.
The law is intended to provide a deterrent on top of criminal laws, particularly for small-time, casual dealers.
Drug dealers “should bear the cost of the harm caused by that market in the community,” the law says.
The next court date is on March 23, when all of the parties are supposed to file a statement that tells the court about the progress of the case.
The ruling wasn’t a total loss for Carpenter. Manoukian ruled that Carpenter can’t be sued under laws that hold people liable for causing a wrongful death. Carpenter didn’t owe Weiner a “duty of care,” Manoukian.
“Having made the decision to engage in a consensual, albeit unlawful/criminal drug transaction, the seller is under no legal obligation to warn against, prevent against, or report the user/buyer’s use and consumption of the controlled substance,” Manoukian wrote.
Why is this solely drug dealer’s fault? Doesn’t everyone in this sad story deserve some blame? Yes, the dealer provided the drugs. But Eitan made a bad decision. He didn’t have parents who drummed into his head that he needed to stay away from drugs. His parents are employed, and he attended, a liberal university where any faculty member who came out publicly against drugs would be “cancelled” by the woke mob that runs the place. Everyone deserves some blame, particularly the young man who decided to take drugs. As JFK said, Life isn’t fair.