A Staten Island attorney tapped into his fandom of the hit HBO show Game of Thrones and demanded a trial by combat to settle a court case, reported The Wrap. Attorney Richard Luthmann argued that a trial by combat isn’t exactly outlawed in the United States.
Luthmann is accused of helping a client commit fraud. The client, David Parker, was involved in a dispute where he owed $500,000 to the plaintiffs. Court filings say that Luthmann told Parker to hide his assets “beyond the reach of creditors,” a New York state law violation. Parker wired $50,000 to an account controlled by Luthmann. Luthmann said the money was legally his.
The case has been kicked up to the New York state Supreme Court. To resolve the matter, Luthmann filed documents with the court demanding the case be settled with a trial by combat. “[The] Defendant invokes the common law writ of right and demands his common law right to Trial By Combat as against plaintiffs and their counsel, whom plaintiff wishes to implead into the Trial By Combat by writ of right,” said the documents.
To support his demand, Luthmann provided an account of the history of trials by combat. “Wager of battle, as the trial by combat was called in English, appears to have been introduced into the common law of the Kingdom of England,” he said. “Since [1776], no American court in post-independence United States to the undersigned’s knowledge has addressed the issue, and thus the trial by combat remains a right reserved to the people and a valid alternative to civil action.”
Parker’s current attorneys haven’t responded to Luthmann’s demands, but it’s likely they will respond with their own demands. Bronn is still on his way back from Dorne with Jaime Lannister, so he’s likely unavailable to be Luthmann’s champion.
