Clear Channel remains a defendant in a lawsuit over a deadly 2003 Chicago nightclub stampede after a Cook County judge on Wednesday denied the multibillion-dollar company's motion for summary judgment. In dismissing the motion, Judge Kathy Flanagan also expressed hope the seven-year-old case will regain momentum.

Plaintiffs say a Clear Channel-employed disc jockey incited the stampede by telling security guards at the E2 nightclub in Chicago to use pepper spray after a fight broke out in the club. They say the pepper spray incited panic and led to a stampede that killed 21 people.

Clear Channel's continuing involvement in the case promises to be a boon to plaintiffs in the civil case. Earlier, the Chicago Tribune reported that a $2.5 million partial settlement against the owners of E2 was put into a victims' fund, which plaintiffs had hoped would grow through additional settlements or judgments, but it hasn't.

In November 2009, E2 owners Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins were sentenced to two years in prison after convictions on indirect criminal contempt stemming from their failure to comply with a court order to close the nightclub's second floor prior to the stampede. They were cleared of involuntary manslaughter charges.

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Clear Channel remains a defendant in a lawsuit over a deadly 2003 Chicago nightclub stampede after a Cook County judge on Wednesday denied the multibillion-dollar company's motion for summary judgment. In dismissing the motion, Judge Kathy Flanagan also expressed hope the seven-year-old case will regain momentum.

Plaintiffs say a Clear Channel-employed disc jockey incited the stampede by telling security guards at the E2 nightclub in Chicago to use pepper spray after a fight broke out in the club. They say the pepper spray incited panic and led to a stampede that killed 21 people.

Clear Channel's continuing involvement in the case promises to be a boon to plaintiffs in the civil case. Earlier, the Chicago Tribune reported that a $2.5 million partial settlement against the owners of E2 was put into a victims' fund, which plaintiffs had hoped would grow through additional settlements or judgments, but it hasn't.

In November 2009, E2 owners Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins were sentenced to two years in prison after convictions on indirect criminal contempt stemming from their failure to comply with a court order to close the nightclub's second floor prior to the stampede. They were cleared of involuntary manslaughter charges.

For the full story, click here.