Band Is Held Not Liable In Suicides of Two Fans
(But Judge’s ruling acknowledges existence of backward messages)
REUTERS
Published: August 25, 1990
LEAD: A judge ruled today that the British heavy-metal band Judas Priest was not responsible for the deaths of two youths who committed suicide after listening to the group’s album ‘Stained Class.’
A judge ruled today that the British heavy-metal band Judas Priest was not responsible for the deaths of two youths who committed suicide after listening to the group’s album ‘Stained Class.’
Judge Jerry Whitehead of Washoe District Court said in his decision that the families of the two young men had failed to prove that a hidden subliminal message on the album caused Raymond Belknap, 18 years old, and James Vance, 20, to shoot themselves.
At the trial, which lasted 17 days, more than 40 witnesses were called, including members of the band.
The judge said,
”The plaintiffs lost this case because they failed to prove that defendants intentionally placed subliminal messages on the album and that those messages were a cause of the suicide and the attempted suicide in this case.”
According to the testimony, the two young men spent six hours on Dec. 23, 1985, listening to ”Stained Class,” smoking marijuana and drinking, then shot themselves with a shotgun. Mr. Belknap died instantly. Mr. Vance was seriously injured and lived in pain until his death three years later.
A $40,000 Fine
While the judge ruled in favor of the band and CBS Records, he imposed a $40,000 sanction against the record company, saying it had refused to comply with court orders to supply material needed in the case.
The families of the dead youths had sought a total of $6.2 million in damages in the civil product-liability suit.
Ken McKenna, a lawyer for the families, said that although they had lost their suit, the case had sent a signal to the music industry. ”This certainly isn’t the last case like this,” Mr. McKenna said. ”Sooner or later a case like this will win. It’s just a matter of time. It’s always tough when you do a new thing, but this case will not be new five years from now. Everyone will know then that music like Judas Priest’s causes violence and death among young people.”
In the trial, the plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that the subliminal phrase ”do it” appeared repeatedly in the album and that it encouraged Mr. Vance and Mr. Belknap to commit suicide.
Judas Priest’s lead singer, Rob Halford, testified that the sound was merely his exhaling during the recording session. He even sang a song from the album, ”Better by Me, Better Than You,” to illustrate his point on the witness stand.
In addition, lawyers for the band contended that the two youths had histories of lives troubled by child abuse, problems with drugs and alcohol and failure at school.
‘WITHOUT A BLEMISH’
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (Special to the New York Times) ”We’ve come out without a blemish, and we’re absolutely thrilled and delighted,” said Rob Halford, the lead singer for the British heavy-metal group Judas Priest. But Mr. Halford expressed concern that other musicians could soon find themselves facing similar accusations.
”The judge’s ruling has apparently left the door open for future lawsuits of this nature,” Mr. Halford said in a telephone interview from Mexico, where he is on vacation. ”The judge has in effect ruled that subliminals do exist as a form of manipulating the unconscious mind, and that has to be worrisome.”
Mr. Halford, who wrote the lyrics for one of the songs that lawyers had said incited two men to kill themselves, said the song, ”Beyond the Realms of Death,” actually carried an anti-suicide message: ”It talks about the way people withdraw from society and refuse to communicate when they can’t stand things anymore, but says they shouldn’t kill themselves.”
Judge Whitehead has paved the way for probable future litigation, Mr. Halford said, by not rejecting outright the notion that ”backward masking,” or the insertion of lyrics played backward into a song, can be used to influence listeners subliminally. ”On any forward lyric by anybody, whether Frank Sinatra or Judas Priest, you will hear some sort of message if it’s turned around,” he said. ”That’s the way humans hear.”