Overlawyered » third party liability for crime

Reluctant to recant rape accusation

Walter Olson — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:23:46 +0000

Brian Banks served more than five years in prison after an old friend “falsely accused him of attacking her on their high school campus”:

In a strange turn of events, the woman, Wanetta Gibson, friended him on Facebook when he got out of prison.

In an initial meeting with him, she said she had lied; there had been no kidnap and no rape and she offered to help him clear his record, court records state.

But she refused to repeat the story to prosecutors because she feared she would have to return a $1.5 million payment from a civil suit brought by her mother against Long Beach schools….

It was uncertain Thursday whether Gibson will have to return the money.

[AP via Balko, Volokh; & welcome Reddit readers]

Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, high-profile Brooklyn sex crimes prosecutor Lauren Hersh has resigned following a furor over a sex trafficking case in which “prosecutors had held on to documents showing the victim recanted rape allegations one day after making them.” [NY Post, more] P.S. Daniel Fisher reminds us of Hersh’s “starring role in New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s expose of Backpage, the Village Voice’s online personals section.”

Tags: NYC, prosecutorial abuse, schools, third party liability for crime

Reluctant to recant rape accusation is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Motel owner 99% liable for murder

Walter Olson — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:44:46 +0000

“[An Indiana appeals] court has found that an ever so slightly negligent (2%) business owner needs to pay for 99% of the harm caused by a murderer. Citing the Restatement (Third) of Torts. Section 14, a public policy in favor of adequately compensating the wronged … and the difficulty murderers have in procuring insurance to cover their rampages, the appellate court in Santelli v. Rahmatulla found that the Restatement provides a handy way of escaping Indiana’s reform of its joint and several liability rule.” [David Oliver] More: Point of Law (motel “[adhered] to the non-discriminatory EEOC principle of not performing criminal background checks”).

Tags: hotels, Indiana, joint and several liability, third party liability for crime

Motel owner 99% liable for murder is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Martin/Zimmerman civil suit

Walter Olson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:12:50 +0000

In which the “self-appointed busybody vigilante” familiar from so much press coverage smoothly turns into “designated security agent of the homeowners’ association.” [Associated Press]

Tags: Martin-Zimmerman case, third party liability for crime

Martin/Zimmerman civil suit is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Suspect in MTSU player’s death sues apartment complex for not intervening”

Walter Olson — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:33:12 +0000

Murfreesboro: “A former MTSU student accused of stabbing a Lady Raider basketball player to death at Raiders Crossing Apartments in 2011 is suing the complex and its management company for failing to separate the two despite knowing they had problems with one another. … The attorney [Joe Brandon Jr.] included Twitter postings by Stewart as supporting evidence of a negative and deteriorating relationship between the two women.” [The Tennessean]

Tags: criminals who sue, Tennessee, third party liability for crime, Twitter

“Suspect in MTSU player’s death sues apartment complex for not intervening” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Long Island pharmacy massacre

Walter Olson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:45:32 +0000

Four people were killed when pill addict David Laffer robbed a Medford, N.Y. pharmacy. Now the survivors of victim Jamie Taccetta are suing a variety of defendants including the drugstore whose pharmacist was killed, the Suffolk County police and a former commissioner, “and pharmaceutical companies that make the drug oxycodone.” [CBS New York, Newsday]

Tags: Long Island, pharmaceuticals, third party liability for crime

Long Island pharmacy massacre is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

When companies’ hot products are stolen

Walter Olson — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:44:10 +0000

Toronto lawyer Michael Deverett thinks a bad guy must have followed him home from the Apple Store; at least someone smashed his hatchback car window when he stepped away for a couple of minutes and made off with what he said was a well concealed bag of new electronics purchases worth C$2,200. The company — which gave him a store credit plus a small extra for legal fees — is also facing criticism from theft victims who say it should do more to help owners retrieve stolen cellphones. [Toronto Star](& welcome Elie Mystal, Above the Law readers)

Tags: Apple, Canada, cellphones, third party liability for crime

When companies’ hot products are stolen is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Wrongful-Death Suit Filed Against Criminal Defendant’s Parents, Grandmother”

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:30:16 +0000

“While lawyer Scott Marshall has pleaded guilty to a murder charge, his victim’s mother has filed an unusual wrongful-death suit against not only him but his parents and his 92-year-old grandmother.” [Texas Lawyer]

Tags: deep pocket, Texas, third party liability for crime

“Wrongful-Death Suit Filed Against Criminal Defendant’s Parents, Grandmother” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 11 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:56:20 +0000

Manhattan Institute’s “Trial Lawyers Inc.” series looks at cozy relations between state attorneys general and plaintiff’s bar [report, related featured discussion, Copland, Examiner] Report comes down hard on Ohio’s Richard Cordray, nominee to head CFPB [Copland, Gorodetski/PoL] Judge tosses Cordray suit against credit rating agencies [O'Brien/LNL, Krauss/American Thinker] Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller denounces report [IowaPolitics.com]
“The Tort of Internet Mobbing Is Perfect For Suing The Internet” [Popehat]
Canada faces challenge to hate speech law [Arthur Bright, Citizen Media Law] Do not put a frog down Her Majesty’s back at the county fair [Lowering the Bar]
“Markopolos eyes a fortune from BNY whistleblowing” [Felix Salmon] “Bounty hunters in Korea” and closer to home [Alex Tabarrok] “Developments in Whistleblower Laws: Advantage Whistleblower” [Larry Wood & Richard William Diaz, Federalist Society "Engage"]
As third party liability for crime anecdotes go, the case of Bonilla v. Motel 6 is on the lurid side [Point of Law]
Prospect of cyberwar: official U.S. response is commando lawyering [Stewart Baker, Foreign Policy]
Why it’s hard to stimulate manufacturing through product liability reform in one state [Rick Esenberg]

Tags: attorneys general, free speech in Canada, Iowa, Manhattan Institute, Ohio, product liability, third party liability for crime, whistleblowers

November 11 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Owner sued in car thief’s crash”

Walter Olson — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:35:20 +0000

“Two passengers riding in a stolen car that was involved in a wreck sue the car’s 91-year-old owner” The driver of the wreck was a man defendant George Hinnenkamp had sometimes hired to do odd jobs; the passengers claim he had extended permission for the man to take the car that night, but a district attorney who successfully prosecuted the case says that isn’t so, noting that Hinnenkamp had reported the car stolen well before the accident. [Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard]

Tags: personal responsibility, third party liability for crime

“Owner sued in car thief’s crash” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Catering hall “could not have foreseen a surprise ninja attack”

Walter Olson — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:39:36 +0000

A Long Island judge has ruled for the defense in a negligent-security case filed by a patron who was slashed by a surprise assailant dressed as a ninja. [Newsday]

Tags: Long Island, third party liability for crime

Catering hall “could not have foreseen a surprise ninja attack” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system