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The Reason Why Our Justice System Is Slow
by Duane Chesney
Duane Chesney 
January 2000: Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000.00 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running amok inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving child was Ms. Robertson's son.
June 1998: A 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000.00 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord.
Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice someone was at the wheel of the car whose hubcap he was trying to steal.
October 1998: A Terrence Dickson of Bristol Pennsylvania was exiting a house he finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up, the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't reenter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, so Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food.
This upset Mr. Dickson, so he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars and change.
October 1999: Jerry Williams of Little Rock Arkansas was awarded $14,500.00 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in it's owner's fenced in yard, as was Mr. Williams. The award was less than sought after because the jury felt the dog may have been provoked by Mr. Williams who, at the time, was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
May 2000: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster,Pennsylvania $113,500.00 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
December 1997: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the lady's room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000.00 and dental expenses.
Jul 15th 2008 15:49
January 2000: Kathleen Robertson of Austin Texas was awarded $780,000.00 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running amok inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving child was Ms. Robertson's son.
June 1998: A 19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000.00 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord.
Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice someone was at the wheel of the car whose hubcap he was trying to steal.
October 1998: A Terrence Dickson of Bristol Pennsylvania was exiting a house he finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up, the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't reenter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, so Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food.
This upset Mr. Dickson, so he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars and change.
October 1999: Jerry Williams of Little Rock Arkansas was awarded $14,500.00 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in it's owner's fenced in yard, as was Mr. Williams. The award was less than sought after because the jury felt the dog may have been provoked by Mr. Williams who, at the time, was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.
May 2000: A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster,Pennsylvania $113,500.00 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson threw it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
December 1997: Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the lady's room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000.00 and dental expenses.
Jul 15th 2008 15:49
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Comments
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Duane Chesney
Cheryl, It's not just the lawers but also the judges who do not have enough sense to through out such outrageous lawsuits. If one is comitting a crime and gets hurt doing it he/she should not be able to file suit against his/her victims. Jul 15th 2008 16:16 |
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Lisa Lomas
 I think this suing game is wrong, it seems anything can be sued and its verdicts are from those without question have a weird sense of value. It seems something that started out handy has been abused & misused again, I don't find it funny (guess I am serious with these antics). I agree that it comes down to lawyor value. Jul 15th 2008 16:21 |
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Not Here
 just want my account deletedLisa, I am with you on that one, BIG TIME. Although I guess people who win ludicrous monetary awards like this could be considered big time entrepreneurs.... Cheryl and Kilroyinc, don't even get me started on law and justice....half them judges are probably paid off and could care less! Jul 15th 2008 16:30 |
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Cheryl Baumgartner
 Medical Billing/Coding/InsuranceWell If the Insurance agency is willing to settle then those will always be paid. Settle out of court and a judge never even has to see the case. the cheapest route for the insurance company is to settle out of court in most cases. As far as juries giving these outrageous settlements it has to do with the jury instructions since they are civil cases. To win a civil case all you need is a "preponderance" of evidence. That means that If you are on a jury you may think it's outrageous that someone was sneaking into a ladies room to avoid paying a cover charge but the crime really is irrelevant. The pertinent questions will be was the distance from the window to the floor far enough to cause injury? Was there anything in the area that could cause injury? And last but not least did the club have burglar bars or some other method to discourage people from trying to enter that way. That is what the jury has to base their decisions on. Stupid yes it is but it is also technicality of the law. It all comes down to which side is better at manipulating the system Jul 15th 2008 17:28 |
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Not Here
just want my account deletedLOL...sneak in through my window and you may find something that will cause injury....a 12 gauge in your ass! Seriously though, thats the problem with the 'law'(whose law is it anyways?). The crime is relevant, because if she hadn't been climbing through the window that she had no business climbing through in the first place she would have never knocked out her teeth. What's next? Liquor store robber gets paper cut due to the manner in which the clerk hands loot over and sues store owner for half million? Ah, forget the crime....those damn paper cuts Sting! Jul 15th 2008 22:50 |
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Beth Schmillen
it was good to get a laugh today! and how can someone win a law suit if they spilt the drink they slipped on or tripped over their own kid? hi everyone... good to read your comments i've missed it... Beth Jul 15th 2008 22:59 |
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Arthur Webster
 Just plain honestyThe saddest part of this post is that it is a spotlight on the insanity that America is exporting to the rest of the world. This has nothing at all to do with law, legality, culpability or anything else which might be considered to be in the domain of the courts. It has everything to do with a population that has been taught that the world owes it a living, it has no responsibilities for its own actions and injuries, that if it is covered by insurance, nobody gets hurt and that it is 'entitled'. Americans have always been perceived as the most naïve race and all their behaviour only demonstrates the accuracy of that perception. I am waiting for the day when court rooms will be accepted as places of entertainment - after all, the level of farce is absolutely unbelievable. Then, I suppose, you would have the hysterical audience whoop-whooping, whistling and screaming as yet another prize is awarded to the most ignorant and most undeserving case. Meanwhile, genuine accident victims will see their chances of a day in court vanish as so many shyster lawyers chase down the most unlikely cases with which to make their name - even if they do get to court, there seems no guarantee that they will keep any damages they win. I am still recovering from reading the case where a teacher was accused of 'making a teenager pregnant'. The case went on for several weeks, apparently but, for a change, came to a sensible-ish conclusion. The teenager's claim was supported but no damages were awarded. The teacher was sent for re-training in HER speciality - which is sex education. Yep. The teenager blamed her lady sex education teacher for her pregnancy because "she told me how to have sex". They are not all locked up - but they damned well ought to be!!!! Jul 15th 2008 23:18 |
It's funny how people think the justice system is about right and wrong. We won't even go into insurance companies settling since they always take the "cheapest" road available. But as far as the rest...It all comes down to who has the better/more influential lawyer!
Jul 15th 2008 16:02