jack *** jurys (only in America)

[p-Bar]

Thought you would get a kick out of this:



Stella Awards!



Time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards. "

The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who

spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in

NM). That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous,

ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States



Here are this year's winners:



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



5th Place (tie)



Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000. by a jury of

her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was

running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were

understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving

little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.



5th Place (tie)



19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical

expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr.

Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the

car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.



5th Place (tie)



Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had

just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the

garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was

malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door

connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The

family was on vacation, and 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. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming

the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed, to the

tune of $500,000. In my opinion this is so outrageous that it should

have been 2nd Place!



4th Place



Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500. and

medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door

neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced

yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog

might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who

had climbed over the fence into the yard and was shooting it

repeatedly with a pellet gun.



3rd Place



A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500. after she slipped on a soft drink

and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because

Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an

argument.



2ndPlace



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 ladies room to

avoid paying the $3. 50 cover charge . She was awarded $12,000 and

dental expenses



1st Place



This year's runaway winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City,

Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor

home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football game), having

driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and

calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back & make herself a

sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and

overturned. Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the

owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded

her $1,750,000. plus a new motor home. The company actually changed

their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any

other complete morons around. :-laf

 

[daytripper63]

These people plus the people on the jury suffer from what I call D. A. D. Dumb Arse Disease

 

[scootergmc]

Those are a few years old, but good nonetheless.

 

[TboneMan]

Funny but not true. Sorry.



http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

 

[onestackdram]

Ok but whats scarry about all that, and we all know those particular stories are false, we also all know that some of them could actually happen. Meaning people sue for some of the dumbest things and are awarded astronimical amounts. That's what makes those stories so scarry.

 

[Jim Fulmer]

Only in Okrahoma... ... ... Freakin' idiot... . gawd!



Jim

 

[IC Smoke]

how can you be so stupid... ... . WOW



Thats like 90% of us going after TDR for spending wayyyy to much money on our own trucks!



Ian

 

[onestackdram]

how can you be so stupid... ... . WOW



Thats like 90% of us going after TDR for spending wayyyy to much money on our own trucks!



Ian

 

[DJW]

Regarding awards for whatever, when living in Britain as a boy, there was a local boy riding the rail mine coal refuge cars to the tip, he fell off and lost part of his leg. While in hospital he recieved a Summonds to report to Court to face a Charge of Trespassing. On asking my father why this should happen considering the boy's injury, he replied that if the Mine owners did not prosicute, they would be liable for his injury, his parents were fined and that was the end of the matter. On the other hand a woman was asking for damages for an injury caused at work. She was paid workman's compasation, but when asking for Damages because the injury caused to lose he sense of smell, the judge asked to what extent, on her reply that now she was unable to smell cooked Brussles Sprouts,he repied that she should regard that as a Benifit, and Disallowed any award. Another a young man walking along a sidewalk bordering a Stadium, a team playing cricket at the time, one of the Batsman hit the ball clear out of the Stadium, (a Boundry) even although the Sadium wall was very high to prevent this type of incident. Later the youth suffered headaches and sought compensation for his condition. The judge rulled that no one was to blame for his injury, as the wall was designed to prevent that happening, and as all parties did not seek to consciously harm anyone, his claim for damages was Denied. The judge added, that one could not expect to go through life and not expect to meet some problems. British Justice??? Seems it's All one Way or the Other. Americn Law is based on English Law, thankfully American Law views a Person in a far different light than English.

 

[p-Bar]

Regarding awards for whatever, when living in Britain as a boy, there was a local boy riding the rail mine coal refuge cars to the tip, he fell off and lost part of his leg. While in hospital he recieved a Summonds to report to Court to face a Charge of Trespassing. On asking my father why this should happen considering the boy's injury, he replied that if the Mine owners did not prosicute, they would be liable for his injury, his parents were fined and that was the end of the matter. On the other hand a woman was asking for damages for an injury caused at work. She was paid workman's compasation, but when asking for Damages because the injury caused to lose he sense of smell, the judge asked to what extent, on her reply that now she was unable to smell cooked Brussles Sprouts,he repied that she should regard that as a Benifit, and Disallowed any award. Another a young man walking along a sidewalk bordering a Stadium, a team playing cricket at the time, one of the Batsman hit the ball clear out of the Stadium, (a Boundry) even although the Sadium wall was very high to prevent this type of incident. Later the youth suffered headaches and sought compensation for his condition. The judge rulled that no one was to blame for his injury, as the wall was designed to prevent that happening, and as all parties did not seek to consciously harm anyone, his claim for damages was Denied. The judge added, that one could not expect to go through life and not expect to meet some problems. British Justice??? Seems it's All one Way or the Other. Americn Law is based on English Law, thankfully American Law views a Person in a far different light than English.

Interesting stories. Also remember Britian has professional jurors where logic is applied and not sympathy. Sorry I look at it this way but looks what happened

 

[DJW]

Perhaps that was the reason the film actress Bette Davis took her case to England. Ordinary citizens are also called to the Courts in Britain for Jury. The USA being much an Egalitarian country, a Cat can Look at the President. I understand in India to sue for damages, one has to put up 10% of the claimed damages. Thank God for America and God Bless America.

 

[p-Bar]

I guess my real problem is the jurys who blunder because they don't have a high enough IQ to understand scientific data such as DNA ect. Professional jurors are the only way to go. I didn't realize Britian uses ordinary people too. Thanks for educating me on this.

 

[DJW]

Only once did I ever know of ordinary citizens taking part in Jury duty in Britain, and that was because one of the men at work was allowed time off for such duty. He told us that he was called to serve, but owing to that he was a stranger in the area, we wondered why a local had not been called to serve. As usual for the British, we couldn't get a word out of him, however that is typical, depending on the company, work or professions are never discussed, it's considered, "camp" and that's a Great Sin. (they are a funny lot) Trust me!