BURLINGTON — Legal troubles for a former California biomedical researcher and entrepreneur didn’t end when he was convicted by a jury last month of ordering the death of a former business partner.
During a hearing on Friday, federal Judge Geoffrey Crawford lifted a stay in a civil wrongful death lawsuit also brought against Serhat Gumrukcu for his role in the 2018 death of Gregory Davis of Danville.
That civil case had been paused pending the outcome of the criminal proceeding against Gumrukcu.
In April, a jury in the criminal case convicted Gumrukcu of murder for hire and conspiracy to commit fraud. Prosecutors claimed that a failed business deal between Gumrukcu and Davis motivated Gumrukcu to hire someone to the Vermont man.
According to prosecutors, Gumrukcu ordered and financed Davis’ fatal hit because he was concerned the Vermont man was going to go to authorities and accuse him of fraud. That would, prosecutors argued during the trial, put in jeopardy an even larger business deal Gumrukcu had been involved in at that time with Enochian Biosciences, in which he stood to gain millions.
Melissa Davis, Gregory Davis’ widow, brought the civil suit against Gumrukcu in June 2022 shortly after he was arrested.
Paul Perkins, an attorney for Melissa Davis and the estate of her late husband, told Crawford during a hearing Friday that he intended to file a motion seeking summary judgment on the wrongful death claim because Gumrukcu had already been found responsible in criminal court for Davis’ death.
A jury would then determine whether Gumrukcu would pay damages, Perkins said.
Shortly after the civil lawsuit was filed, Crawford granted Melissa Davis an order seizing roughly 12.5 million shares of stock Gumrukcu had in Enochian Biosciences — a California biotechnology company in which he had an ownership stake. At the time that order was granted, each share was valued around $2, meaning there was around $25 million worth of shares.
However, during Friday’s hearing, Perkins told the judge that the share prices have since plunged to a total value of around $4 million, or a little more than 30 cents per share.
Crawford questioned whether there would even be someone interested in purchasing those shares.
“That’s a substantial concern,” Perkins said, adding he didn’t think there would be much of a market for them.
During the hearing, Perkins said he may also seek Gumrukcu’s other assets, including shares in various business entities as well as a multimillion dollar California home he had been living in at the time of his arrest with his husband.
Crawford asked Perkins to draft a settlement offer for Gumrukcu to potentially head off further litigation.
Meanwhile, Lisa Shelkrot, an attorney who had been representing Gumrukcu in the civil case, filed a motion to withdraw herself from it. She told Crawford during Friday’s hearing that Gumrukcu wanted to represent himself in the matter.
Crawford said he would not immediately grant Shelkrot’s request. Instead, the judge said, he wanted her to relay to Gumrukcu any possible settlement offer first.
Gumrukcu, who is currently incarcerated awaiting sentencing in the criminal case, did not attend Friday’s civil case hearing due to difficulties with obtaining transportation and video conferencing for people in custody, according to Crawford.
A sentencing date in the criminal case has not yet been set. Gumrukcu, 42, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Three other men charged in connection with the murder-for-hire plot reached plea deals in the case and testified against Gumrukcu during the criminal trial, including the hit man who carried out the fatal shooting in Vermont.
