John Goodman, 48, recently lost his freedom for 16 years and now it appears that he has lost his beloved adopted daughter. Goodman is the wealthy founder of the International Polo Club Beach in Wellington, was convicted of killing Scott Patrick Wilson, 23, while driving drunk. Facing a civil lawsuit from his family, Goodman has legally adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, Heather Laruso Hutchins, as his daughter to protect some of his money. Now it appears his daughter is back being his girlfriend after an appellate court ruled that her adoption was a sham and fraud. It was the continuation of Goodman’s effort to establish himself as one of the worst human beings on the planet.
Category: Torts
There is an interesting case out of Disneyland this month where a paraplegic man was stuck on the famous (infamous?) Its A Small World ride after a breakdown and sued for emotional distress. It is the scene of countless parodies of people going mad in the ride. What is interesting is that Jose Martinez, 52, was only left for 30 minutes and it was at the end of the ride as they were leaving the goodbye tunnel. While the music continues to play, it was only for 30 minutes as they fixed a mechanical problem. Nevertheless, Disney was hit with damages to the tune of $8000.
In a highly questionable ruling, New York Supreme Court Judge Robert Mueller (left) enjoined the showing of Lifeline’s film, “Romeo Killer: The Christopher Porco Story,” which tells the true story of University of Rochester student Christopher Porco (right) who murdered his father with an axe and tried to murder his mother. It is a case of prior restraint and is rare in the United States. Proco had sued that the movie uses his name “for the purposes of trade.” However, Porco is a convicted murderer in a high-profile case from Nov. 2004. It is not clear how Mueller believes that such cases depictions are not covered by free speech but thankfully Mueller was reversed by the appellate court.
Continue reading “Where Art Thou Romeo? Lifetime Movie Enjoined At Request Of Convicted Killer”
Brett Zorse, 50, (shown here in a photo from Facebook) reportedly had a curious defense when he was accused of fondling a female passenger next to him on a JetBlue flight with his 12-year-old son. The alleged victim told police that when she confronted him he told her crudely that at least he did not penetrate her. Not exactly the best criminal defense the New Yorker could stake out on a charge of assault. He told police that he thought he had “bonded” with the 32-year-old woman. However, the federal assault provision seems dangerously vague on the element of this crime.
Continue reading “New York Man Charged with Assaulting Woman on Flight With His Teenage Son”
For many, this may be the quintessential New York story. The elevator at Long Island Rail Road Station Number One has been listed as inoperable because of . . . well number one. The elevator is no longer working because of excessive urination in the elevator.
Continue reading “The Yellow Line: New York Elevators To Be Replaced Due To Excessive Urination”
After living with the same woman for 51 years, Evan Davidson probably can recognize his own wife. However, when the management of Simpson Family Mortuary of Inglewood showed him Darlene Davidson, 82, in her casket, Evan Davidson promptly said that is not my wife. However, the mortuary insisted that he was wrong and she simply looked different due to embalming. They insisted on burying her and later learned that in fact it was a different woman.
Continue reading “California Mortuary Admits It Buried Wrong Woman Despite Husband’s Objections”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Juan Carlos Vera will receive (US)$100,000 in a settlement of his lawsuit against James O’Keefe. The money is to be paid within 30 days and, as part of the settlement, O’Keefe “regrets any pain suffered by Mr. Vera or his family.” Vera was an employee of ACORN in National City, California, when, in 2009, James O’Keefe, posing as a law school student boyfriend (not a pimp) and Hannah Giles, dressed similarly to a prostitute, surreptitiously video-taped the encounter. A “severely edited” version was published by the late Andrew Breitbart and Vera was subsequently fired.
There is an interesting torts lawsuit out of Houston where Layne Hardin, 44, is suing Obstetrical and Gynecological Associates, PA for allegedly giving two vials of his sperm to an ex-girfriend who proceeded to have his child. She is also suing the former boyfriend. The boy is now 2 years old. Hardin says that Tobie Devall has never let him see the boy while her lawyer says that he has never asked to see the boy.
Continue reading “Texas Man Sues Ex-Girlfriend and Clinic for Theft of Sperm Used To Produce Child”
There is a disturbing story out of Oklahoma State University where university officials failed to report sexual assault allegations to police out of a bizarre fear that they would be violating federal guidelines over the confidentiality of student grades. Former Oklahoma State student Nathan Cochran, 22, was accused of the assaults but university lawyers and staff believed that reporting the allegations would require disclosure of educational records in violation of the Federal Education Rights Privacy Act.
We have all seen video of driving accidents in Russia where people commonly cut in front of cars with only inches of space. Well, the newest hero in Russia is a vigilante bus driver named Alexei Volkov who intentionally hits vehicles that cut in front of him — all recorded on his dashboard camera.
Vice President Joe Biden latest controversial statement has produced some interesting criticism. Biden was asked recently if the ban on certain guns would put people at risk. He responded by encouraging people to buy shotguns and fire them out the window. It was pretty dim-witted advice since that would be illegal, but is it sexist as well as stupid?
Continue reading “Sexist or Just Stupid? Biden’s Shotgun Advice Triggers Criticism”
We have another ruling in a hunting accident case. I have previously written columns and blogs about the different treatment generally afforded to killings committed by hunters. In Salem, Oregon, Eugene Collier, 68, was acquitted of manslaughter in the killing of Marine reservist Christopher Ochoa, 20, after mistaking him for a bear. We previously discussed the case.
Continue reading “Oregon Hunter Acquitted In Killing Of Marine Reservist Who He Misstook For Bear”
Five Connecticut towns will pay $3.5 million in a bizarre raid by heavily armed SWAT team members after a report of drugs in the house of a Norwalk man. The team hit the home with flash grenades while snipers and officers surrounded the property. The owner, Ronald Terebesi, was dragged from the home and another man, Gonzalo Guizan (right), shot and killed. Neither was armed and a small amount of recreational drugs were found. The towns however still fought the case for years until a court issued a key ruling against them. They still deny any negligence or fault and proceeded to give the officer leading the raid an award for his role in the disastrous raid. (Swat members shown here were not involved in this raid)
This morning, our blog passed our 15,000,000 viewers. Since just a few weeks ago that we passed the 14,000,000 mark, it is obvious that the blog continues to grow at an impressive rate. We continue to rank in the top ten most viewed legal blogs in the world and I would like to think that our civility policy adds to the appeal of the blog for new viewers.
There is an interesting torts case brewing in Los Angeles where guests at the Cecil Hotel drank and bathed from a rooftop water tank that appears to have had a decomposing body in it for two weeks. The body of Elisa Lam was found after a worker investigated the cause for low water pressure at the hotel.