As noted on our annual Turkey tort posting, deep-fried turkey remains one of the main reasons for admissions in Emergency Rooms around the country. My friend who heads one of the largest Emergency Rooms in this area says that it is virtually all men with burn injuries. For those deep frying this holiday, here are a few cautionary tales.
Category: Torts
Brian and Christa Caponi of Gulf Breeze Florida loved to watch their pet “Tom the Turkey.” It appears that their neighbor, Jacob Hayden Provo, 18, saw something more tangible: a Thanksgiving dinner.
Continue reading “Tom The Turkey: Vittles or Victim?”
There is an interesting case out of Chicago where a gang member has reached a settlement with the Chicago Police Department after filing a tort action for intentional infliction of emotional distress and false arrest. The $33,000 settlement followed a controversy over two Chicago police officers — Susana La Casa and Luis Contreras — taking gang member Miguel “Mikey” Castillo into a rival gangs territory and allowing the rival Latin King members to taunt and threaten him. The Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy is now seeking the dismissal of the officers.
We have seen a number of cases (here and here) involving stars going to prison for life in inexplicable falls from celebrity status. Shelley Malil will now be added to that rogue’s gallery of fallen stars. The actor appeared in movies like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” but has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Malil, 45, stabbed his girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, 20 times after finding her having a glass of wine with a man at her home.
Continue reading ““40-Year-Old” Virgin Actor Sentenced To Life In Prison For Stabbing of Girlfriend”
The Church of Scientology is the focus of new charges of potentially criminal wrongdoing in the death of a church member. A federal lawsuit details allegations that the Church spent millions to influence judges and lawyers to scuttle homicide allegations in the death of Lisa McPherson in 1995. The allegations of corrupt practices are directed at known judges and lawyers, including the lawyer for the coroner in the investigation into the death. The former number two of the Church says that he believes the Church spent at least $30 million to get criminal charges dropped.
David Cooper, 26, is an example of how dangerous a little legal knowledge can be. The Texas man was arrested after squatting in a $405,000 Arlington home after the family left for Houston so that the mother could receive cancer treatment. Cooper said that he read about adverse possession in the law library at Southern Methodist University. He drew up an affidavit stating that he was asserting ownership by adverse possession and that was enough during an initial visit by the police. When the family arrived, however, the police finally put an end to the claim and criminally charged him with felony theft and burglary. His wife, Jasmine Williams Cooper, was charged with burglary. A jury convicted Cooper but acquitted his wife (after Cooper insisted that she did not stay at the house with him).
Continue reading “Adversity or Burglary? Texas Man Convicted In Bizarre Squatting Case”
Yesterday we reported the allegation brought against Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, that he had had sex with a 16-year-old boy. Clash denied the allegation and insisted that the accused, now 23, was 18 when they started having an intimate relationship. (The age of consent in the state is 17). Now, the accuser has withdrawn the complaint and said that indeed it was an “adult consensual” relationship. The question is whether Clash should not sue the individual for defamation and whether, if the accuser gave a statement to the police, whether he should be prosecuted for a false police report.
Continue reading “Accuser Recants Criminal Allegations Against Sesame Street Actor”
Last night, while discussing the Petraeus scandal on CNN, the network played a 911 call from one of the four major figures in the scandal: Jill Kelley. The call is perfectly bizarre in which Kelley, a Florida socialite, claims “honorary diplomatic” status to get the police to stop people from walking across her lawn. The dispatcher listens patiently and appears to resist the temptation to tell her that he will be sending over some honorary police to protect their honorary diplomatic residence.
A Denver family has a notable complaint about their mail service. The Porch family alleges that a carrier delivered mail to their house and walked by the body of Dale Porch, 46, who collapsed on his porch after working “the graveyard shift” at his job. The carrier reportedly said and did nothing.
Continue reading “Postal Worker Accused Of Stepping Around Dying Man In Denver In Delivering Mail”
There is a bizarre case out of China were a man, Jian Feng, was awarded $120,000 (£75,000) in a court settlement after alleging that his wife did not reveal that she had had cosmetic surgery — a fact that he said he discovered when she had an ‘incredibly ugly’ child.
There is another study that offers strong support for the dangers of both smoking and second-hand smoke. The study at the University of California – San Francisco found a dramatic decline in hospitalizations in areas with laws banning smoking at work and public areas.
In torts class, I promised an esteemed lecturer who spent a lifetime of work on animal liability. Yesterday, they met the professor who had a biting wit and a dogged socratic style: my dog Molly. Her qualifications are that she has spent a lifetime as a dog and has studied most animals under clinical conditions. Herr Professor is tamed but untenured.
Continue reading “Meet GW’s Newest Scholar: Professor Molly Turley”
We have yet another tragedy of a gay student bullied to the point that he committed suicide. Tim Ribberink, 20, left a note saying that he simply could not take the teasing and isolation anymore despite his love for his parents. His image puts another face on the costs of homophobia and intolerance. Ribberlink was studying to be a history teacher.
Continue reading “Dutch Suicide Highlights Homophobia In Netherlands”
In torts, we are about to discuss animal liability and a case this week captures the liability line in such cases. In Montana, a twenty-four-year old employee of the Animals of Montana was killed by a grizzly bear raised in captivity to appear on films and photographic images.
Continue reading “Grizzly Bear Kills Employee At Private Montana Wild Animal Facility”
A New Mexico policeman is accused in a new lawsuit of tasering a 10-year-old child on a playground after the boy refused to clean his patrol car. The lawsuit has been filed by a guardian ad litem, Rachel Higgins, and accuses New Mexico Department of Public Safety and Motor Transportation Police Officer Chris Webb of the battery on the child.