Nick Gordon’s Former Lawyer Speaks Out on Bobbi Kristina Brown Civil Case Ruling

staff@people.com (Dave Quinn and Linda Marx)
Updated
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On Friday, Bobbi Kristina Brown’s boyfriend Nick Gordon was found civilly liable for her death after failing to appear in an Atlanta, Georgia, court in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Brown’s estate last year.

Because Gordon had failed to appear twice, Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford said Friday that anything alleged by the plaintiff is admitted through omission.

But Gordon’s former family lawyer, Atlanta Trial Lawyer Randy Kessler, told PEOPLE that although he is not representing Gordon in the case, he doesn’t think the 26-year-old did anything wrong.

“As I understand it – and I am not representing [Gordon] – he did not have a lawyer for this civil case and because he failed to respond or to appear, the court simply granted Plaintiff’s requests to assess liability,” Kessler explained.

“To me, that does not establish that he did anything wrong,” Kessler continued. “It is not a decision on the merits.”

While Gordon was found civilly liable for Brown’s death, he has never been criminally charged in her death. A source in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office previously told PEOPLE that the criminal investigation is “still ongoing.”

“This won’t change anything in the criminal case,” the source said. “Generally speaking, it tends to the other way around: a criminal conviction is used in a civil case. Obviously, if he had taken the stand in a civil case, we could have used what he said. But that’s not what happened here. The case is still ongoing, but there are no new updates at this time.”

Kessler said that if criminal charges appear, Gordon will likely be present in his defense.

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“He has apparently not been charged with a crime and if he is, his criminal attorney Joe Habachy will defend him vigorously,” Kessler told PEOPLE.

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, was found unresponsive in the bathtub of her home on Jan. 31, 2015. After six months of medically induced comas and a hospice stay, she passed away on July 26, 2015.

After Friday’s ruling, a Brown family source told PEOPLE, “We are praising God. This has been a long time coming. But all the judgments in the world won’t bring Krissy back.”

“We miss her every single day. Even when there’s justice, it’s not comfort. She was gone too soon, and we all have to live with that. I hope Nick lives with it every day for the rest of his life, because we sure are.”

Judge Bedford will now determine the amount of damages to be awarded to Brown’s estate. The suit asked for $50 million.

“In court today, we finally finished a long journey for justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown,” Brown’s estate attorney R. David Ware said in a press conference filmed by 11 Alive outside of court. “The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon’s answer that he is legally responsible for her death. The only thing left to prove is the value of her life. We intend to do that.”