Jury Clears Tommy Lee in Suit Over Child’s Drowning

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was not responsible for the death of a 4-year-old boy who drowned during a pool party at the musician’s Santa Monica Mountains home nearly two years ago, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury decided Thursday.

“Although I am relieved that the court has found me not negligent, there are no winners in this sad situation,” Lee said in a statement. He left the Santa Monica courthouse after the verdict without speaking to reporters.

Howard Pollack, 62, foreman of the unanimous jury, said it was obvious from the beginning that Lee was not at fault.

Lee “fulfilled all of his obligations as the homeowner,” Pollack said. “He didn’t have to do anything other than open his gates.”

But the lawsuit alleged that Lee should have anticipated the risks of children around a pool, and provided life vests or hired a lifeguard, said Thomas Girardi, attorney for the plaintiffs -- Ursula Karven and James Veres.

Their son, Daniel Karven-Veres, died June 16, 2001, during a birthday party for Lee’s oldest son, Brandon.

As the property owner, Lee was responsible for the safety of the 15 to 20 children who visited the home, Girardi said.

“You see, it would have been so easy for this terrible thing not to take place,” Girardi said during closing arguments.

The jury of nine women and three men, who deliberated for three hours, disagreed.

Daniel’s caregiver, a foreign exchange student from Germany, left the party to attend the Wango Tango music festival. Another nanny agreed to watch Daniel and bring him home after the party. She left the pool area momentarily to take two girls, who also were under her care, to the bathroom.

Witnesses last saw Daniel in a shallow entrance to the pool. A guest later found his body at the bottom of the pool.

Lee’s lawyer, James Baratta, said his client was not accountable for the children at the party because they were accompanied by parents or nannies who were watching them.

He argued that Daniel’s parents are partly to blame for allowing their child to stay at the party -- after the regular guardian left -- under the supervision of a nanny they did not know very well.

During closing arguments, Baratta said it was ridiculous to expect Lee, or any homeowner, to hire a private lifeguard.

“Who does that stuff?” he asked jurors. “When does anyone have to be held accountable to that kind of standard?

“It was a terrible tragedy that these people have gone through, so we don’t take a great deal of pleasure in the verdict.”