There is an interesting tort case in Iowa where Jeffrey Tigges of Dubuque, was found by his wife to have secretly mounted cameras in their bedroom and filmed them in private. A court awarded Cathy Tigges (now divorced) $22,500 for invasion of privacy.
Continue reading “Iowa Rules Against Husband Who Secretly Videotaped Wife in Bedroom”
The California Supreme Court has handed down an important ruling on the limits of Good Samaritan laws, which often protect medical personnel from some forms of liability. The law does not help Lisa Torti who pulled a co-worker from a wreak because her assistance was not medical.
Continue reading “Torti Tort: California Supreme Court Rules Against Good Samaritan”
When the tugboat Mel Oliver crashed into the Tintomara tanker on July 23rd, it caused a spill of 283,000 gallons of oil and blocking 100 miles of the Mississippi River. It now turns out that it was over a jealous tub boat captain, a socially active girlfriend, and love gone terribly wrong.
Continue reading “Love Boat: Oil Spill Caused by Tug Captain Leaving to Find Girlfriend”
Rebecca Hancock, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida may be done with the Grace Community Church and Rev. T. Scott Christmas, but they are not done with her. Hancock left the church after it demanded that she leave her boyfriend Frank Young because of their “sexually immoral relationship.” Her children, however, remained in the church. Now, the church was told her that if she does not leave the church, her sins will be exposed to the entire community.
Continue reading “Father Christmas’ Naughty List: Pastor Plans to Publicly Expose Sins of Former Parishioner”
Elizabeth Shelton, the daughter of Texas district judge Pat Shelton, was arrested after she ran her car into a truck in 2007 — killing her boyfriend, Matthew McNiece. She was found to have a blood alcohol level that was three times the legal limit. She was convicted of intoxication manslaughter and sent to jail for four months and given eight years probation. (She could have received 20 years). Now out of jail, she is suing the truck driver and company for the accident.
Continue reading “Judge’s Daughter Wrecks Car, Kills Boyfriend in Drunk Driving Accident . . . And Sues the Driver That She Hit.”
French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. has won a claim against a clothing firm for using nude images of her on their bags. It is a French version of the American common law rule against the appropriation of a person’s name or image. She will receive $56,200 but clothing vendor Pardon, says that it may appeal.
Continue reading “Pardon Non: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Wins Ruling Against Clothing Vendor Over Use of Nude Image”
A Chinese man identified only as Zhang, of Tunkou, has learned that he does not have a bad dog after all — he has a good Arctic fox. Zhang was unhappy that his dog could not be trained, repeatedly bit him, and smelled despite repeated shampooing.
Continue reading “Bad Dog, Good Fox: Chinese Man Discovers that His Dog is Rare Arctic Fox”
This has been a strange and stressful weak for Obama supporters. Environmentalists are reeling over the selection of Sen. Salazar for Interior Secretary and liberals are denouncing the selection of Rev. Rick Warren for the inauguration prayer. In the meantime, Obama has assembled the most establishment cabinet of any recent president — picking the very same power figures who have run the government for years. However, nothing prepared Democrats for yesterday when Obama picked Rep. Ray LaHood, Republican of Illinois, to lead the Transportation department. I represented the democratic staffer on the House Intelligence Committee, Larry Hanauer, who was savagely and unjustly attacked by LaHood. LaHood’s attacks — found to be baseless — led to threats against Hanauer and his family.
Continue reading “Obama Nominates LaHood Despite Past Controversies in Congress”
In a major ruling, the Supreme Court has ruled that litigation against light cigarettes may continue in a 5-4 decision. The ruling is not just a victory for anti-smokers, but also states rights advocates and common law advocates. The opinion reinforces the right of states to allow such lawsuits, which are not preempted by federal law.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Rules Against Tobacco Companies in Light Cigarette Litigation”
Baltimore is outraged over the video below showing two teenage girls laughing as a man is robbed and then shot at a Chinese carryout. After Darren Brown and David Jefferson (both 17) shot the man, the carryout reportedly did nothing to help him, refused to let him behind the counter for protection, and continued to take orders.
There is an interesting defamation case developing in New York where John F. Singer is suing Centropa (the Central Europe Center for Research and Documentation), an oral history project based in Europe. Centropa published a study in 2005 that quoted Singer’s mother as saying that he was not circumcised as an infant. Singer insists that this is defamatory for a Jewish male and is seeking damages.
Continue reading “The Deepest Cut of All: New York Man Sues Over Publication Saying That He Was Not Circumcised”
Now, this is what you call a case of first impression. In Willmar, Minnnesota, Scott Wagar, 50, was upset with kids toilet-papering his house in that common homecoming adolescent practice. He decided, therefore, to spray them with . . . . fox urine.
Continue reading “Urine A Lot of Trouble: Minnesota Man Sprays Teens with Fox Urine”
The audience were thrilled and applauded loudly at the life-like scene of Daniel Hoevels, 30, slitting his throat during the performance of Mary Stuart at Vienna’s acclaimed Burgtheater theater. The problem is that it was real. Hoevels, who staggered around the stage and then collapsed, had used a real knife by mistake. Given that Mary Stuart’s decapitation, Hoevels’ accident may be the curse of the Queen of Scots.
Ok, Benny is half house cat and half bobcat. The Kringlephobic cat bit Santa (aka Jonathan Bebbington) at a charity event in Hamilton Township, N.J. and he was about to get rabies shots when the cat’s owner, Christine Haughey appeared with vaccination records — a made it back on the nice list. Benny, however, is toast this Christmas.
Continue reading “Santa Attacked by Bobcat in New Jersey”
Waterford Kettering High School in Michigan has a curious concept of interesting learning experiences. A teacher reportedly took a class to see an autopsy of a 14-year-old girl from the Waterford Kettering middle school.
Continue reading “A is for Autopsy . . . C is for Cadaver: High School Students Taken to Watch Another Student’s Autopsy”