Carruth not contesting wrongful death lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth, serving prison time in connection with the 1999 murder of his pregnant girlfriend, will not contest a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the victim's mother.

Carruth appeared last week in civil court, where lawyer Chris Fialko told Superior Court Judge Robert Johnston that his client wanted to withdraw his answer to a civil complaint filed by Saundra Adams in December 2001.

Withdrawal of the answer, which was filed in February 2002, means that Carruth defaults on the lawsuit and the court will treat him as though the allegations in the suit are true.

Fialko said Tuesday that Carruth's decision does not constitute an admission that he caused the death of Cherica Adams.

"By no means is Rae admitting guilt," Fialko said. "Rae has decided not to contest the civil complaint, and withdrawing his answers was the best mechanism to do that."

Saundra Adams' suit followed a criminal trial in which jurors found Carruth guilty of murder conspiracy but acquitted him on a first-degree murder charge that could have brought the death penalty.

Last month, Carruth's appeal of his criminal conviction was rejected by a state appeals court. His lawyers appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, Fialko said.

Carruth, a first-round draft pick of the Panthers in 1997, is serving a prison term of 18 years and 11 months for plotting to kill Cherica Adams.

Carruth was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and using a gun to try to kill the baby Adams was carrying. He was acquitted of a murder charge that could have brought the death penalty.

Adams was eight months pregnant with Carruth's child when she was shot while driving. She died a month later. Her son, Chancellor Lee Adams, survived an emergency delivery.