Iowa Supreme Court: SLIPKNOT Bassist's Child Can Sue For Dad's Overdose

According to The Des Moines Register, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday (May 6) that a lawsuit filed against a Des Moines pain doctor in the fatal overdose of SLIPKNOT bassist Paul Gray brought on behalf of the musician's daughter will be allowed to proceed, even though she wasn't born when Paul died.

Gray's widow filed a lawsuit against Baldi four years after her husband's death but a district judge dismissed the case because he said it was filed two years too late under state rules.

However, the Iowa justices decided that October Gray could bring a lawsuit for the loss of her father's love and emotional support — known as loss of consortium — even though she was still in her mother's womb when Gray died of a drug overdose in May 2010.

Justice Daryl Hecht wrote in the ruling that October Gray, who is now 5, could still suffer the emotional effects of her father's death after her birth, making her claim eligible to be decided by a jury.

"Whatever deprivation of consortium (October Gray) is currently experiencing is no less real just because she did not experience it while in utero," Hecht wrote.

Dr. Daniel Baldi was accused of causing the deaths of Gray and eight others with his careless prescription habits.

Gray's widow filed a lawsuit against Baldi four years after her husband's death but a district judge dismissed the case because he said it was filed two years too late under state rules.

Paul Gray was found dead on May 24, 2010 after overdosing on drugs in a hotel room in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, where he and SLIPKNOT were based. Brenna filed her suit on February 14, 2014.

Brenna Gray's lawyer, Bruce Stoltze, argued that the statute of limitations shouldn't have started until Gray had reason to believe Baldi caused her husband's death, but the judge disagreed.

Baldi was acquitted in May 2014 of seven criminal counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Brenna Gray testified during Baldi's trial that Paul's final weeks were a "blur of extreme drug abuse," which neither his doctor nor his bandmates would help his wife confront. She said that Baldi continued to prescribe Xanax for Paul despite knowing that the musician was a drug addict, saying, "I just wasn't really sure why he was on it, why he needed it along with the medication he was taking for addiction."

Baldi's lawyer cross-examined Brenna, asking her if she was aware that her husband overdosed on the painkillers fentanyl and morphine, neither of which Baldi ever prescribed to him.

Brenna also testified that she tried reaching out to some of Paul's bandmates in SLIPKNOT just days prior to the bassist's death but that none of them wanted to get involved. She revealed, "One was playing golf two minutes away from our house but couldn't come. Nobody else cared, nobody was involved. They told me it was my problem."

Brenna revealed in a 2011 interview with Revolver that her husband had agreed to get help for his drug problem just one day before he died.

After a lengthy hiatus, SLIPKNOT resumed touring in 2011, with Donnie Steele playing bass live. The band in 2014 secured the services of British musician Alessandro "Vman" Venturella to play bass on tour.

Paul was 38 years old at the time of his death.