Aldon Smith, former 49er sued over party gunfire, A 21-year-old Bay Area man is suing 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith and former 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, saying he was shot twice in the leg when he was "caught in the crossfire" of a drunken gunfight at Smith's home that included both football players.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court by Ronndale Esporlas, seeks unspecified damages from Smith, 23, and Walker, 29. Walker left the 49ers after last season and signed with the Tennessee Titans.
The suit stems from a party that Smith threw on June 29, 2012, at his home on Higuera Highland Lane in the foothills east of San Jose. More than 100 people showed up, and by the time the bash ended early the next morning, Smith had been stabbed and two people had been shot, authorities said.
Smith, whose alleged attacker faces assault charges, said he knew the lawsuit was coming.
"Things happen," he said Wednesday at 49ers headquarters. "You've just got to focus on the things that you do. I'm focused on playing against Green Bay, and we'll see how it goes."
Walker said he was shocked by the lawsuit and complained his name was being "put through the mud," according to the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
An attorney for Esporlas said in the lawsuit that Smith and Walker charged $10 for admission to the party, plus $5 per drink. The football players themselves drank heavily, the suit said.
At one point, in an effort to end the raucous event, Smith, Walker and others "appeared on the balcony of the house, brandished handguns, and began shooting in the air," attorney David Kleczek wrote.
He said Walker then moved to the driveway, where he "began firing a handgun in the air and toward others attending the party." That's when a group of people near the street returned fire, the suit said, with Esporlas and a friend "caught in the crossfire between the two groups of people firing gunshots at each other."
According to Kleczek, Esporlas suffered permanent injuries to his leg. He said the players had fired handguns on the property "on several other occasions" before the party.
Neither Smith nor Walker has been accused of crimes. But Santa Clara County prosecutors charged a man from San Jose with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly stabbing Smith at the party in a gang-related attack.
The charges against Steven Barba, 27, were filed in June but had never been reported publicly. A second defendant, 20-year-old Christopher Sanchez of San Jose, is charged with assault with a firearm for allegedly shooting 31-year-old Oladapo Ashaolu at the party.
Attorneys for Barba and Sanchez, who are also charged with actively participating in a street gang, did not return telephone messages. Reached at his San Jose home, Ashaolu declined to comment.
A judge has sealed affidavits describing the case at the request of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, which asserted that such disclosures would "inhibit the further investigation of possible co-conspirators."
Trent Baalke, the 49ers' general manager, released a statement Wednesday saying the team had "been aware of this matter concerning Aldon Smith for some time. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, but will have no further comment at this time, as this is an ongoing legal matter."
A spokesman for the Titans said the team was aware of the situation but would have no comment.
