HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Adam Walsh's parents won't appeal a court ruling to allow allegations of their drug use and an extramarital affair to be admitted in a lawsuit against the store where Adam was abducted, their lawyer said Monday.
Judge Cail Lee ruled last week the testimony of family friend James Campbell was pertinent in the negligence suit John and Reve Walsh filed against the Sears store in the Hollywood Mall. He gave them until noon Monday to appeal the ruling.
'We are not going to appeal the release of Campbell's deposition,' attorney Sam Holland said after the Monday deadline passed.
Adam, 6, was abducted from the sidewalk outside the store July 27, 1981, and his severed head was found in a canal two weeks later.
The Walshes' sued Sears because a security guard sent Adam outside after a minor disturbance involving some children who were playing with video games. Mrs. Walsh had left Adam in the toy section while she shopped in the lamp department.
Campbell, who once lived with the Walshes, said in his deposition he had been Mrs. Walsh's lover and that the Walshes had used cocaine and marijuana. The judge ruled the family's lifestyle was 'part of the essence of the trial.'
Holland said they did not appeal because the allegations 'have nothing to do with the lawsuit.'
'I don't know what the hell it has to do with the suit,' said Holland. 'I don't know if she was having an affair with Campbell or any other man, or what that has to do with the negligence of Sears on July 27, 1981. Hollywood police have investigated these people extensively. They have no skeletons in the closet,' said Holland.
The testimony will be admitted but will not necessarily be heard by the jury, Holland said.
No trial date has been set, but Holland said he expected the case to go to court within six months.
