KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rita J. Miller dismissed a lawsuit filed against Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. and the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc. on Tuesday for their alleged role in the death of Karla Brada.
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The lawsuit was filed by Brada’s parents, Hector and Jaroslava Mendez.
They contend that Brada was murdered by Eric Earl, Brada’s boyfriend, because Alcoholics Anonymous concealed his violent history.
Earl was convicted and sentenced to 26 years to life for suffocating Brada at the condo the couple shared in Saugus.
Jaroslava Mendez, Brada’s mother, says that AA is ultimately responsible for the death of her daughter because of the policies they have in place regarding the anonymous status of its criminal members.
“Anonymity is a way to protect the member whose not yet here,” said a spokesperson for the general service office of Alcoholics Anonymous, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s for the member who hasn’t reached out yet, so when they do, they can do so anonymously.”
Mendez alleges when an individual attends an AA meeting, “you could be sitting next to a violent criminal or sex offender, and you don’t even know.”
According to AA, the organization reaches people through, “principles, not personalities.”
“When we reach people on only our principles, we can give a consistent message,” said the AA spokesperson. “There are no membership lists, no requirements to join, and we ask no questions. We only ask, ‘are you ready to stop drinking.’”
Mendez hoped that the lawsuit brought against AA would force them to change their policy with regards to anonymity for criminals who attend their meetings.
“We filed this lawsuit because my daughter’s death could have been prevented by AA,” Mendez said. “We don’t want any money. I want to clarify this. We just want people to know what’s going on at AA.”
Weeks before the murder, a friend of Brada called the police because Earl had allegedly beat Brada.
The lawsuit suggests Brada’s AA sponsors, Patrick and Joanne Frye, along with Santa Clarita Alcoholics Anonymous, were also at fault.
The Mendez’s say that their daughter’s two sponsors coerced Brada into bailing Earl of of jail and dropping the charges against him.
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Well, I guess that Karla Brada’s sponsors aren’t anonymous any more. Question: How would anyone necessarily know the past of a member? Unless that person makes their past known, that is, which is entirely up to them at all times. Also , the actions of the members of any group are not necessarily endorsed by that organization. Nowhere in the Big Book does it state that criminals are to be protected or bailed out. So, while I am incredibly sorry to hear of the death of anyone by the hand of another, this is not something that is endorsed or protected by AA. The only thing that is supposed to be anonymous is the identity of a fellow alcoholic, and that anonymity has been violated in this story. I think the sponsors were acting in a way that was irresponsible and misguided, but that isn’t a criminal act. May Karla rest in peace, may Eric Earl get the punishment he deserves, and may Patrick and Joanne continue to walk the walk and learn from this horrific mistake.
Thank you!
How does anyone really know if the sponsors coerced Karla or not? Karla ultimately was an adult staying in a dangerous situation….i also am so sad to hear of her untimely death and hope the rat killer gets due justice….praying Karla’s parents can find peace within after such a tragedy!
If the court were to send you to driving school or community service would you have any better idea of who you were witting next to? She had plenty of opportunity to vet her boyfriend prior to the incident.
Sad story but the judge was correct in dismissing.
The morning after my first AA meeting, the soon to be sheriff came by and told me that I didn’t need to go to AA. He expressed concern for my reputation. When I replied that it was anonymous, he informed me that everybody in town knew. Some of the city fathers ran it.
Unless you know more this case than this article suggests, we know that the parents are saying the sponsors coerced her to bail him out. doesn’t mean that actually happened. I don’t know a single sponsor in my area that would ever suggest that. AAs aren’t in the coercion business.
Do we know that Joanne or Patrick really did what they have been accused of?
AA as an organization is in no way is responsible… for Bradas choice of boyfriend. Do a background check if you, as a parent, are so concerned, rather than blaming, after the fact, AA. For the record courts sentence criminals to AA everyday…all day…M-F!!!! The biggest outpatient clinic in the world!!! Pedophiles, rapists, drunks, murderers, Molesters, liars, cheats, thieves, bank Robbers, burglars, housewives, drunks, drug addicts, kidnappers, prostitues…male and female, Rock Stars, movie and TV stars, Bankers, People of Wall Street, Astronauts, Clergymen imagine that…priests being drunkards…among other things…Real Estate and financial advisors, in otherwards, EVERY walk of life…there you have it!!! He BEAT her….what more of a warning did she need! AA is not the place to look for a mate! BEWARE!
You are right.And it is in fact disciuraged.
I know the parties in question, all of them. The parents are looking to blame someone for their daughters bad choices. I particularly take umbridge with the statement that “the sponsors” cohersed her into bailing him out. It’s just not factual.
You can be sitting in church next to a violent criminal or sex offender. How do you know? Guess they will stop going to church now and sue them too.
This is a problem of the court system, Not AA.
AA has a primary purpose, to help the next sick and suffering Alcoholic, regardless of how they get to us.
The court system needs stop dumping their problems on AA, perhaps dealing with their parolees addiction problems at a state level under better supervision. If the court deems these people fit for parole unleashing them on the civilian population, why is it that AA has to be the scape goat of their risky decision making.
AA will take these people no questions asked.
And quite frankly, (and speaking only for myself) we aren’t exactly hurting for new members, society it’s self seems to take care of that for us. we’ll do just fine without court mandated AA members.
It was her treatment center or courts that sent her, not AA..and who truly knows what the AA sponsor told her, things get twisted up at times, gossip kills.
This is a sad sad story and so sorry for the loss.
I suppose they could have met at a bar too. I just dont see how this is workable what they suggest even if it had merit. Would it also apply to rehan centers, hospitals, therapist wait rooms, other support groups, methadone clnics. What would they do, put a scarlet letter on one’s forhead to warn others? Would that even matter? Where woud the line be drawn? If someone had a DUI they can attend but if the DUI killed someone they couldn’t? A fight at a bar during college is OK but not if they hit their boyfriend while drunk?
One could just as well say that the original fault is on the part of Karla Brada for being an alcoholic, which necessitated her being at the AA meetings. He’d beaten her before, so she certainly had advance warning that he is someone to be avoided. I understand the parents’ anger and sorrow, but it is wrongly aimed at a group that actually tried to help their daughter.
Those attending AA or NA are not addicts or alcoholics by choice or because of something lacking in our personal, emotional, or mental make ups. We suffer from a disease from which there is no known cure. It can, however, be arrested at some point and recovery is then possible.
People in service board and service structure are thought wrong sometimes. Sometimes we believe that if we only force people into hearing the message, they’ll get it. That’s why they cooperate with court systems turning a blind eye on tradition 3 by blaming that courts violate not us. (Well we cooperate). Then we go a step further by endorsing thier papers; the result, AA is filled with people who don’t want to quit, sometimes the real Alcoholic who is depending on the message (from the Big Book) listens to those messages and it hinders the real alcoholics chance to recover.
As a service monkey, I apologize.
AA specifically teaches men with the men, women with women.
Where does it say that?
Very sad for this young lady, very sad. Did the gun kill someone or was it in fact the person that used the gun? Please, let’s stop the insanity. AA is no more at fault than a gun.
I am in another 12 step fellowship, and we were permitted by the AA fellowship to adopt and adapt their twelve steps and twelve traditions to our fellowship and the needs of our membership. What Dona and others here have posted in their replies are dead on point. We say that we don’t care how much or how little you have, what you’ve done in the past, or who your connections were; all we want to know is what is your problem and how can we help (you). Having said that, many of us who have been around any amount of time have heard just about everything one can imagine. And just about the time you think that you have heard everything, someone opens his or her mouth and says something that…yep! hadn’t heard that before! I’ve been in this fellowship for 20+ years and I can still be amazed. More importantly, and more to the point, we often are more amazed at the things we don’t hear. We don’t hear about the rapes, about the robberies and the murders, the prostitution and the rip-offs, the dealing and the shoplifting. And the same goes for the success, the money, property, and prestige that someone has. Those are what we refer to as “outside issues.” Thus, we put those “things” where they belong–outside the fellowship–so we can focus on the disease that brought us to where we are today. I wish the family, friends, and extended family of all involved in this tragedy, find some measure of peace. And to be clear, I don’t speak for anyone or anything other than myself.
It’s a shame that this young lady was killed by her boyfriend. Nobody nor any family deserves that kind of thing. It’s also a shame that folks want to place blame on an organization that has saved countless lives over the past 80 years. This program is anonymous to avoid the social stigmas that can be horrifying. The program presents an amazing way of living that is enlightening, encouraging and life saving! This is a program that is much misunderstood because of the traditions they adhere to. That is preferable to the option that would put their members in the middle of a stage for outsiders to throw obscenities and social barbs at. That is how it can feel when someone is trying to recover from a disease that throws it’s sufferers into a seemingly helpless state of mind and body! Everybody deserves a chance toward recovery of an illness that kills so many people each year that it’s an epidemic without fear of reprisal!!
First of all AA tells members to be responsible and do the right thing. Bailing out someone who is abusive is not responsible! Sober behavior is not always represented by our members. No one member represents AA hence our Anonimity Statement. I did not bail out my brother so he could see the consequences of his actions. He is now sober 28 years. AA has always told me to be spiritual and responsible it is the antithesis of what her parents suggest. Very troubling situation I will pray for the family as probably most of our membership that knows about this will God Bless The Ripster
A lot of my fellow alcoholics are prevaricating here in the comments.
I have nearly 30 yrs in the program.
AA has been inundated with criminals.
A lazy cheap broken criminal justice system sends it’s refuse to the rooms.
It’s time to admit we have a problem, a felony fellowship.
Let’s stop dodging our responsibility.
A: stop the 13th step dirtbags.
B: no more court slip idiots.
C: accept responsibility for protecting newcomers.
I have voiced all 3 of your statements only to be shut down by an old-timer. In retrospect, they were right. There are always some who have more knowledge. There are always some who are full of themselves. The more time I amass, the clearer things are. I can never stop learning. Just don’t pick up.
If you have 30 years in aa you should know better sir or madam. The only requirement for membership is a
desire to stop drinking. What you are preaching here is awful and i certainly don’t want what you have.
Secondly, how do you know the court sent him to aa?
Finally, a sane response. Britain and Australia have instituted Guidelines for behavior in A.A. groups.
Why do members of Alcoholics Anonymous continue to make the 13th Step a reality? There is no 13th Step – we have 12. I believe many people outside of AA believe we actually have 13 and they seem to know the implications of that one but would be hard pressed to discuss any of the 12 real ones.
I was a “court slip idiot” many years ago. I am grateful the men and women in the rooms understood the Traditions.
Believe it’s each mmber’s responsibility to make the newcomer feel welcome and to find their alcoholism.
i was in the cort room in lincon nebraska the judge said mr. jensen i will give you a choice go to AA for 2 years 3 meatings a week or go the pentsory on jan. the 8 1973 was my last drink, thank judge grant, no body ask me was i a sex a finde did i kill any body no.
i got a sponcer he took me threw these 12 stepts i have work a bunch of MEN only so if the was so kind to sen me AA it none of any body biness . do whate the big book said you cant go wrone
people are to quick to suit and blame today..and too slow to accept responsibility for their own actions…example Michigan Governor Snyder poisoning the Flint Mi water …then denying it…and telling the people to relax its fine drink the water, while for months reports were coming in about the toxic levels showing up in the water and the childrens blood. Now he’s looking for an escape goat…
Anonymity, as practiced in early AA, and as intended, if you read up on it, was and is not to shield AA members from knowing each other, but to keep the information out of “public media of communication”, and to allow the member their own choice when out in public whether or not to identify as a member in the larger community. We always ask new members how they found their way to meetings. Court, driver diversion programs, treatment, just let out of jail, found meetings by looking on the Internet, etc. word passes, not primarily to gossip, but to support new members in getting and staying sober. Some cannot or will not, at least on their current time around, be willing to do the tough work of being self honest and committing to changed behavior. All are welcome to try. Sobriety is not the whole answer for many who need counseling from outside sources. It is a solid baseline. AA is not a cure all, but excels in supporting the willing in their sobriety journey.
yeah Judge, you did the absolute right thing
Karla Brada and Eric Earle didn’t meet in AA. They met at a faith-based trailer camp where Earle was living. Neither of them was being court-ordered to meetings the entire time they knew each other. The violence didn’t occur at an AA meeting or activity, or proximate to one. The 48 Hours hit piece was based on three fictions. AAWS-GSB exercise no authority, control or custody over any member, which is why they were exonerated by the court. No meeting announcement or pamphlet is going to stop domestic violence. The responsible person is in prison.
I am sober since 1974. The Program has gotten way too soft and politically correct. We can’t tell any knucklehead anything that might make them feel offended. They need to sit down shut up and listen. Rehabs don’t make them sober, the AA program that is working the steps helps keep them sober. Think about it. A lot of people make a year; most of them disappear in the second year. It’s simple. Is it more important to get laid or to save your life??
They want people to know what’s going on at AA? Well, mostly, it’s people getting sober. I guess the cats outta the bag.
Its an anonymous program that has saved my ass. Sorry for the loss however that could happen in any scenario. I believe they call it domestic violence. We women make bad choices unfortunately and the end result often times is a tragic death. You cannot hold aa responsible for this. It is solely the guy that committed the crimes fault. Period. He needs to face the ultimate punishment. Again sorry for your loss. Peace
Why did the girl in the story have two sponsors? The public knows so little about what really goes on in the twelve step fellowships to hear them try to talk about it is comical. You certainly could be siting next to a criminal at a meeting and never know it – of course you could be sitting next to a criminal in a movie or at a game or at the DMV and never know it for God sake. The supreme court has already ruled that what is said at a twelve step meeting or to your sponsor is not a protected utterance – in other words people can be compelled to testify about knowledge of criminal activity learned about through twelve step contact. The anonymity of the program is about people outside the fellowship not knowing someone is a member not about protecting their criminal behavior.
I hope everyone will view this entire article and think before opining. This is a win for both sides if you want to look at win/loss. The family was not after AA for money. They hurt for the loss of a loved one. They hope to prevent it happening to other loving parents and family. As a long time AA member I hope every AA group will take the time to discuss and INVENTORY themselves. Yes, it is individuals but it is also the elder statesmen responsibility to stay at these meetings to help curtail some of the newcomers misdirection. I am sure the sponsor meant well in this case and pretty well can say that person would give the world to change what happened. May God’s hand show well and all the passion I have for the grieving family. AA will only get stronger if we take the time to look at ourselves.
The family obviously did not work a program OR take responsability of some part eithereither, they have a boat load of help for families of recovering people i pray they start to read it, my heart goes out to them. I have seen neew people for years not barely make meetings not work a program and sponsor or advise other new members with NO experiance, run to 3or 4 types of 12 step groups and stamp themselves recovering. They mislead the families but we on the inside are not confused. We know exactly who we dealing with and when we are responsable for our whole recovery that means our life choices and thinking must change. USING IS ONLY A SYMPTOM. Kcb good hearing from my family all over the world ! We DO RECOVER!
I just saw the 48 hours show, and am happy to see here that the charges were dismissed. As I see it, there was very little attributed here to the responsibility of Karla herself, who was actively still using per the coroner’s report. I concur with above comments that no matter who you date today, via AA or anywhere, a background check is a must.