Ruling Favors Band in Suit Over Girl’s Murder

A San Luis Obispo judge ruled late Tuesday that the parents of a slain teenage girl have failed to prove that violent music by the heavy metal band Slayer incited her murder.

Still, Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Burke did not dismiss a lawsuit by David and Lisanne Pahler against Slayer, but gave them 60 days to file an amended complaint citing new evidence to support their argument that the marketing of Slayer’s music to minors triggered the 1995 slaying of their daughter, Elyse Pahler.

Three teenage boys--Royce Casey, Joseph Fiorella and Jacob Delashmutt--pleaded guilty to Pahler’s murder and told investigators that they committed the crime after listening to Slayer’s music.

The girl’s parents sued Slayer and its Sony-affiliated American Recordings label in 1996 for allegedly violating the California Business and Professions Code, accusing them of unlawfully marketing and distributing “harmful” and “obscene” products to minors.

Tuesday’s ruling stemmed from a motion filed by Slayer and its record company to dismiss the suit on free speech grounds. The judge agreed that, based on previous rock-lyric rulings, Slayer’s music is protected under the 1st Amendment.

Despite his doubts about the lawsuit, however, the judge gave the Pahlers another chance to introduce specific evidence to bolster their contention that the marketing of the music resulted in their daughter’s murder. A hearing on the matter is expected to take place this summer.

Whatever the outcome of that hearing, the suit is likely to take years to resolve, with both sides vowing to fight all the way to the Supreme Court.