Widow of Peregrine CEO can't collect on claims

Dorothy F. Gardner, widow of Stephen P. Gardner, former chief executive of Peregrine Systems, can't collect on wrongful death charges. Peregrine was San Diego's biggest corporate fraud.

In 2008, Gardner was sentenced to 97 months after pleading guilty to securities fraud and related charges. The prison system was informed of Gardner's previous heart problems. In July of 2013, during a Maryland heat wave, he requested reassignment to library duty. His request was granted, but it was too late; he died of a massive heart attack.

His widow and son sued the government and individuals for deliberate indifference to Gardner's physical condition under the Eighth Amendment.

This month, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that "Relief under the Eighth Amendment is reserved for cases of cruel and unusual punishment, that is, egregious conduct by prison officials reflecting the unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain." Gardner's case doesn't meet that standard, said the judge, in granting defendants summary judgment.