Pittsburgh Civil Lawsuit on behalf of rape victim against shopping mall goes to Trial

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, jury selection starts on November 18, 2008 in a civil lawsuit between a rape victim and the company that manages Waterworks Mall.

The victim claims J.J. Gumberg Co. provided "wholly inadequate" security at the mall, leaving her vulnerable to a man who kidnapped her and later raped her three times.

The rapist waited in the Waterworks parking lot the morning of April 7, 2007, then accosted the woman and her 16-month-old daughter after they finished grocery shopping. He held a knife to the baby's throat and forced the woman to drive him to Ohio where the rapes occurred.

The woman and her husband are seeking monetary damages from Gumberg. In court filings, Gumberg's attorneys said the couple's lawsuit has no merit.

"It is denied that J.J. Gumberg knew Waterworks Mall attracted an unusually high incidence of crime, or that it failed to take action with regards to reasonable threats. To the contrary, J.J. Gumberg acted reasonably at all times," their lawyers said.

Gumberg's lawyers previously tried without success to force the woman to disclose her real name in the lawsuit. Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward ruled that the woman and her husband could sue Gumberg under the pseudonyms Jane and John Doe. The couple, from Fox Chapel, said revealing their real names would cause them unnecessary embarrassment.