Strip club says it is bankrupt
List of debts includes judgment from fight
By Warren Wise
The Post and Courier
The Joker club filed for bankruptcy this week, more than two years after a $1 million judgment against the owners.
A Charleston gentlemen's club that turned not-so-gentlemanly after a 2001 fight between employees and two patrons filed for bankruptcy this week, more than two years after it was ordered to pay $1 million in legal damages to the customers involved in the altercation.
The Joker Supper Club Restaurant and Lounge sought protection from creditors in Columbia on Wednesday.
The club listed $24,915 in assets and more than $1.4 million in debts, including the court judgment.
Attorney David L. Savage, who represented the customers injured in the fight, said lawyers have been trying to track down the club's assets since the judgment was awarded in May 2006.
Savage called the bankruptcy filing a way "to unjustifiably avoid the verdict. If they can't pay their legal debts, then they shouldn't be in business."
Attorney Nathan Davis, who is handling the club's reorganization, said judgments are treated the same as unsecured debts in bankruptcy cases. The restructuring will allow the club to work out a repayment plan with its creditors.
"I know that something will be paid, but I have no idea of the final amount," Davis said.
Attorney Bill Runyon, who also represents the Joker, said the strip club remains open. He also said it is like any other business facing financial hardship.
"The business may be unique, but the problems are not unique," Runyon said. "This is no different from any other business that faces some financial difficulties in the operation of their business."
Circuit Court Judge Markley Dennis ordered the club to pay $1 million to a father and son who said they were beaten by two employees inside the Joker.
Christopher D. Martin, who was 25 at the time of the incident, and his father, Dale L. Martin, who was 46, sued the Joker in October 2003 for damages related to their injuries.
The two Summerville men were treated at Trident Medical Center and required several stitches to their heads, according to a Charleston police report.
The son also suffered fractured bones in the eye and nose area, the report said. The two told police the employees beat them with their hands, feet and wooden clubs.
Five years after the incident, Dennis awarded the younger Martin $150,000 in actual damages and $400,000 in punitive damages. The judge also said the elder Martin should receive $100,000 in actual damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.
Savage said two men visited the King Street Extension club with out-of-town clients. Their first drink order arrived just before the lights came on, signaling closing time, he said.
When an employee told the Martins and their guests it was time to leave, the younger Martin told the employee they had just received their drinks, Savage said.
The club worker responded with an expletive and flicked a cigarette toward the son and a fight ensued, Savage said.
He said the son was pummelled to the floor, and the father tried to intervene but was hit in the back of the head with a club. The son was struck again with a chair while he lay on the floor, Savage said.
The Martins left the club and initially went back to their clients' hotel room to clean up, but they later were taken to the hospital because of the severity of the wounds, according to the police report.
The elder Martin was treated for a laceration to the top of his head that required eight stitches, a swollen right eye and minor cuts around his right eye, the police report said.
The son suffered a cut to the back of his head that required six stitches, a cut to his forehead that required 11 stitches, fractured facial bones and swollen eyes, the report said.
Runyon said the Martins' initial refusal to leave led to the altercation.
"When you come in there, you are expected to act like gentlemen," Runyon said. "They would not have been asked to leave if it were not for the city's 2 a.m. bar-closing law."
Reach Warren Wise at wwise@postandcourier.com or 937-5524.
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Comments
NativeSC (anonymous) says...
I love how the jack off lawyer tries to justify the beating, as if there's any excuse. WHat's funny is if some pussy lawyer had been the one told to get out after ordering his drink, he would have found some way to sue for tht. I say sell the property and pay the debts with that. That land has to be worth something, the lawyers aren't worth shooting.
November 7, 2008 at 9:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
woodrob12 (anonymous) says...
Support single mothers. SAVE THE JOKER!!
November 7, 2008 at 10:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
The land and building are probably leased or mortgaged. Both of the attorney's involved are respected local practitioners. Neither of them were personally involved in the incident. Injured people should be able to sue a business owner who fails to protect them from his own employees. Bankruptcy is an accepted and necessary legal process in appropriate situations.
Most local businesses have very little net value these days. Land and buildings have declined in value, equipment depreciates, inventories are kept low and apparently in this case, the club was operating without insurance.
In the case of strip clubs, they face huge competition from "internet dating" services, many of which operate as a clearinghouse for prostitution. Thanks to the internet and cell phone, Charleston's oldest profession can escape the "bricks and mortar" overhead and connect provider and consumer directly.
There is apparently a huge amount of this going on, but it's nearly impossible for law enforcement to intercept. They can run sting operations, but they're inefficient since there are still a lot of people actually using these services to date and the professionals are pretty good at spotting the heat.
Strip clubs and streetwalking may go the way of the porn movie theater and adult book store, victims of technology. I have no idea it that is an improvement or not.
November 7, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coolfreaknbeans (anonymous) says...
wjhamilton3 posted "....equipment depreciates..." Boy if that isn't the most factual post yet. If it weren't for that places display of their "depreciated equipment", they probably wouldnt be bankrupt! LMAO
November 7, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SeaSaw (anonymous) says...
The Joker is a dive and they knew very well what kind of place is was before going there. You go in a place like that, you are on their turf and have to answer to their rules. When they say leave you leave. I wonder how much liquid courage the victims had consumed prior to the altercation. You lay with dogs you get up with fleas.
However, the Joker has been court ordered to pay $1 million in legal damages and should do so. Good job Attorney David L. Savage. This is about as good as the hot coffee lawsuit that was brought against McDonalds years ago. The victim in that case also suffered injuries, but should have known to have exercised caution while handling hot coffee.
November 7, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
commonsence (anonymous) says...
See the building, pay the judgment and build a drugstore on the lot. Next case...
November 7, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
srsk24 (anonymous) says...
You are just asking for trouble when you go into trashy places like this! If the two men and their "guests" would have left like they were asked to do, then maybe there wouldn't have been an altercation at all. Since when does the timing of you receiving your drinks over ride the 2am closing law? IT DOESN"T! Common sense says don't order your drinks after 1am, unless you are an extremely fast drinker; which apparently they weren't! REALLY! They should have taken their "guests" to a restaurant instead of strip club! Hope they learned a lesson!
November 7, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
studley (anonymous) says...
Does this mean their bank account is bare?
November 7, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blaze (anonymous) says...
It's not called The Wild Wild Joker for nothing.
November 7, 2008 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Whopper (anonymous) says...
I don't think they went there for drinks. It's a shame some of you excuse such brutality simply because they wanted a t-bone steak and a table dance.
Imagine if NativeSC went to the Joker? His Cherokee Indian background would surely find something to complain about. Cry me a river native one. Cry me a river. Life's not fair. Boohoo.
November 7, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
benjenjon (anonymous) says...
They should just apply for the bailout. I'm sure our government will help.
November 7, 2008 at 6:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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