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The defendant, Bold Earth Teen Adventures, made a motion March 6 to move the trial from Honolulu to Colorado, where the tour company is based. A federal judge denied that motion Thursday, which allows the proceedings to move forward in Hawaii, according to the report.
Tyler’s father Michael and his lawyer Susan Karten want to keep the suit in Honolulu because many witnesses would not be able to fly to Colorado, according to the report.
Tyler, who attended Scarsdale High School, was part of a group of 12 students on a guided tour July 4, 2012, on the Big Island. They were resting in a tide pool near Kealakekua Bay when a wave washed Madoff and another boy into the ocean. Two Hawaii Pack and Paddle tour guides, hired by Bold Earth to lead the hike, jumped in after them and recovered and resuscitated the second boy, who was from Miami.
A U.S. Coast Guard search was called off the night of July 5. Madoff has been missing since. The family held a memorial service July 26.
The Madoff family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the tour company and its homeland guide Hawaii Pack and Paddle, which has since had its permit revoked to operate tours in the area. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages for negligence and infliction of emotional distress.
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