Category: Torts

Abortion or Murder? Clinic Reportedly Delivers Live Baby By Mistake and Then Throws Her Into the Trash

medical symbolA horrific case has emerged in Florida that may unleash a new round of legislative demands on restrictions of abortion clinics, a continual point of contention in the state. According to media reports, Sycloria Williams, 18, went to an abortion clinic outside of Miami and paid $1200 for an abortion. However, the 23-week baby was reportedly delivered live and simply thrown into a trash bag. The case has caused attention on the background and questionable skills of Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique. The case has both challenging civil and criminal questions.
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Officer Rams Van Full of Children, Brandishes Weapon, Arrests Father on Baseless Charge, and Receives No Punishment

squad2008tThe video below shows a curious police chase. Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Carrie Rindal says that she was forced to ram the van of a man attempted to flee in his van and then succeeded in arresting him. The only problem is that Sam Salter was only suspected of an unlawful lane change and his flight was for only one mile at a slow speed. Salter had his children in the van and says that he was trying to find a safe place to pull over when Rindal rammed his van and came at him with his gun drawn.
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Assaulted Walmart Greeter Sues Police Officer and Chattanooga Police Department

cpdbadge_current_jpegThere has been general outcry after the Chattanooga Police Department refused to charge Officer Kenneth Freeman with assault after he knocked down a seventy-one-year old Walmart greeter and threw another man through a glass door. Now, Bill Walker, 71, is suing Freeman and the police department for $21 million.
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Motion to Enlarge: New Jersey Lawyer Loses Bid Against Defective “Enlargement” Device

288px-washington_monument_dusk_jan_2006Englewood attorney Harold M. Hoffman has achieved a curious notoriety in legal circles after his prolonged effort to sue a company for false advertising of a penis enlargement product that did not meet his expectations. He lost another round before the New Jersey appellate court.

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Bad Call? Mayor Faces Criminal Charges for Killing Two Dogs

thumb_attentive_dogMcCune Mayor Don Call, Mayor of McCune, Mo., may wish he lived in McCune, Pennsylvania where shooting dogs was found not to be covered under animal cruelty statutes. Call faces animal cruelty charges for killing two dogs with a rifle that were threatening children in the area. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

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Minneapolis Man Files Brutality Case Against Officer for Tasing Him in 2005 — He is Then Killed in 2008 After Being Tased By The Same Officer

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In 2005, ex-radio DJ Quincy De’Shawn Smith was involved in a confrontation with a police officer that resulted in his being tased. In November, this case was cleared for trial alleging police brutality by the officer. However, Smith, 24, is now dead after being tased in December by the same Minneapolis police officer, Officer Timothy Devick, who was responding to a report of a domestic assault.
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FDA Opens Criminal Investigation of Peanut Corporation of America

thumb_peanutsAs predicted in our earlier entry, the investigation into the salmonella outbreak has now become a criminal investigation of Peanut Corporation of America. Recently, it was learned that company officials knew that prior batches of its product were contaminated but shipped them anyway. The Food and Drug Administration is spearheading the investigation.

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In Fecal Delicto : Californian Man Assaults Lawyer and Jury With Feces in Court

gavel2These are the types of dangers that law school simply does not prepare you for. Weusi McGowan, 37, wanted San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser to replace his public defender Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jeffrey Martin. Fraser refused, so after a break McGowan returned to court and promptly produced a plastic baggie with fecal matter and smeared in on the face and hair of Martin. He then tossed the waste at the jury. The home-invasion robbery suspect got a new trial, a new lawyer, and presumably a new assault charge.
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Give Me An Ache, Give Me a Bruise . . . : Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Cheerleading is Contact Sport

250px-youthcheerleadingpomponsThe Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that cheerleading is a contact sport like footballs and therefore participants cannot be sued for accidentally causing injuries. Brittany Noffke, a former varsity cheerleader at Holmen High School in Wisconsin, sued her spotter after she was allowed to fall backwards off the shoulders of a team member, causing a serious head injury. Continue reading “Give Me An Ache, Give Me a Bruise . . . : Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Cheerleading is Contact Sport”

Report: Peanut Corp. of America Knowingly Shipped Contaminated Peanut Butter At Least Twelve Times in the Last Two Years

thumb_peanuts1Internal documents from the Peanut Corporation of America reportedly show that the company knew that peanut butter was contaminated with salmonella 12 times in the last two years, but shipped out the contaminated peanut butter to customers. The revelation will most certainly increase the liability facing the company from both the government and civil litigants after the death of eight people and the injury to hundreds across the country. Indeed, it would appear that criminal charges may now be warranted.

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Fun With Fugu: Seven Hospitalized For Eating Bad Blowfish Testicles

240px-tetraodon-hispidusNow, this is a tort that can only be found in Japan. Yes (if you are wondering) there appears to be “good” and “bad’ blowfish testicles. Seven people have been hospitalized after eating the testicles prepared in the Japanese city of Tsuruoka by an unlicensed Fugu chef.

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Fatal “Gasser” at Pleasure Ridge High: Football Coach Charged With Reckless Homicide

Player Death ChargesJason Stinson, the football coach of Pleasure Ridge High School in Kentucky, has been charged with reckless homicide in the death of a teenage player, Max Gilpin, 15. Gilpin collapsed from heat exhaustion on August 20, 2008 during a practice and died three days later. Gilpin died during a “gasser” where students sprint up and down the field.
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Christians Can’t Jump: Coach Grimes Fired for Beating Girl’s Basketball Team 100 To 0

thumb_basketball_large_basketball_beveled_seamNow, this could make for an wrongful termination lawsuit. Micah Grimes, the coach of Covenant School of Dallas, was reportedly fired after refusing to apologize for a 100 – 0 victory of his girls’ basketball team over Dallas Academy. He insists that it is ridiculous to apologize “for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.” He was fired shortly thereafter.
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