What is *wrong* with juries and judges? --- money motivated lawyers? On Feb 9, 11:36 am, wncs <wncswonderl...@gmail.com> wrote: > Unbelievable!!!! What is *wrong* with juries and judges? > > On Feb 9, 12:07 pm, Philobealo <wayneb...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar > > with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck > > who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's > > in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took > > the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was dr > > iving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? > > That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and > > verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you > > scratch your head. Here are the Stella's for the past year: > > * SEVENTH PLACE* > > Kathleen Robertson of Austin , Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of > > her peers after breaking her ankle tripping ove r a toddler who was > > running inside a furniture store. The store owners were > > understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running > > toddler was her own son. > > Start scratching! > > * SIXTH PLACE * > > Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical > > expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. > > Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the > > car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. > > Scratch some more... > > * FIFTH PLACE * > > Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house > > he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for > > Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could > > not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the > > house because the door connecting the garage to the hous e locked > > when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT > > days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, > > he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental > > Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay > > Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of > > anguish. There are more... > > * FOURTH PLACE * > > Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas , garnered 4th Place in the > > Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being > > bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though > > the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did > > not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle > > might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because > > Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot > > the dog with a pellet gun. > > * THIRD PLACE * > > Amber Carson of Lancaster , Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a > > Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a > > spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink > > was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds > > earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people being > > responsible for their own actions? > > *SECOND PLACE* > > Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in > > a nearby city b ecause she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, > > knocking out her two front teeth. Ev en though Ms. Walton was trying > > to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 > > cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her > > $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure. > > * FIRST PLACE * > > This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv > > Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased new 32-foot > > Winnebago motor h ome. On her first trip home, from an OU football > > game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at > > 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Win > > n ebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home > > left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. > > Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that > > she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise > > control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? > > $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their > > manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any > > relatives who might also buy a motor home. > > > Are we, as a society, getting more stupid....- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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