Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Today’s police chase lawsuit roundup III

  • Antonio Chatman has already pled guilty to charges of fleeing police (the third time he’s been in trouble for doing so in his lengthy criminal history) and resisting arrest, but now claims that he jumped upon a Dumpster to give himself up, and sued the city of Johnstown and police officer Michael Page over its use of Obi, a police dog that bit him when he fought the apprehending dog. A jury didn’t buy his story.

    On Thursday afternoon, Page shook hands with and thanked the jurors who cleared him. The 35-year-old also said the threat of a lawsuit can haunt officers as they make split-second decisions on the street.

    “You have these type of things in the back of your mind,” Page said. “And unfortunately, that hesitation may cause me or somebody else to get hurt.”

    Chatman’s attorneys argue that Page should have been equipped with a baton, though Page was over 50 feet away. (Mike Faher, “Jurors clear police dog”, Tribune-Democrat, Nov. 18; Id., “Police defend dog accused of biting”, Nov. 16; Id., “Officers testify in dog-bite lawsuit”, Nov. 15; Id., “Police-dog bite lawsuit begins”, Nov. 14). The district court had granted summary judgment, but the Third Circuit reversed (as the law required them to do) because of the “he said, he said” factual dispute. Unless Pennsylvania prosecutes Chatman for perjury, he will suffer no consequences for bringing the lawsuit.

  • Patrick Sterling was fleeing police after being caught drag racing when he lost control of his Honda Civic and killed a thirteen-year-old pedestrian, Dennis Howard. So, of course, the family is suing the town of Orange. (Gerard A. Frank, “City faces lawsuit in boy’s death due to chase”, East Orange Record, Nov. 17; Scott Weinberger, “Family’s Claim About Cop Unfounded”, WCBS, Nov. 11).
  • A Houston policeman complains about the safety implications of the city’s implementation of police-chase regulations. “Basically, that’s telling the crooks out there to just go on and do what you want and get away with it, because we’re not going to be chasing you.” The city denies that the revisions are the result of lawsuit fears, though it has been subjected to litigation over an innocent killed by a criminal fleeing police. (Jeff McShan, “HPD: To chase or not to chase”, KHOU, Nov. 23).
  • An interview of a teenage car thief provides more support for the proposition that regulating police chases just encourages criminals to drive dangerously more often: “The police in the District would see us and chase us, but once they saw us go over 70 miles an hour they stopped.” In the words of one policeman, “If the [DC and Maryland] police were allowed to do their job and chase stolen cars, people wouldn’t run from the police. They don’t have this problem in Virginia. If you steal a car in Arlington, the Virginia State Police will chase you all the way to Georgia.” DC has gotten sufficiently lawless that Police Chief Charles Ramsey’s car has been stolen. (Michael Patrick Carney, “‘Don’t hurt me, I’m just a kid'”, Washingtonian, Dec. 2005).

Earlier coverage: Oct. 26; Mar. 29; Mar. 15 and links therein.

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Online game blamed in Chinese teen’s death

“The parents of a 13 year-old boy who died falling from a building are suing World of Warcraft developer Blizzard, claiming that the massively-multiplayer online game is to blame for their son’s death. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, the parents, who reside in the city of Tianjin, claim the boy jumped to his death whilst re-enacting a scene from the game. They are supported by Zhang Chunliang, a well-known activist whose campaign seeks to highlight the dangers of Internet addiction….There are more than 1.5 million World of Warcraft players in China — making up more than a third of the game’s worldwide subscriber base, even though the game only went on sale there in June.” (Ellie Gibson, “Parents set to sue Blizzard after World of Warcraft player dies”, GamesIndustry.biz, Nov. 21)(Joystiq.com thread). More on computer- and videogame suits: Oct. 21, Nov. 9, etc.

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Update: Ed Fagan disciplinary hearings

Kate Coscarelli of the Newark Star-Ledger is covering them:

The brash-talking attorney was the focus of two days of disciplinary hearings that will ultimately decide whether he should be disbarred for mishandling client funds. The sometimes-contentious hearings were held …in a third-floor room at state Superior Court in Hackensack before retired Judge Arthur Minuskin, who is the special ethics master in the case.

The state Office of Attorney Ethics has charged Fagan with mishandling almost $400,000 in client funds, including money from two Holocaust survivors: Estelle Sapir, who got a large settlement from the Swiss banks, and Gizella Weisshaus, a Brooklyn woman who was the first survivor to sue the banks.

(“Holocaust lawyer fights his own court battle”, Nov. 17). More on attorney Edward Fagan: Aug. 27, Jun. 4 and many more.

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Illinois State Bar Association takes action

The Illinois State Bar Association has found that people in focus groups are upset about the miscarriages of justice that occur in Madison County and corruption in the system, and have been motivated to take action. So are they going to clean up the system and support reform? No! Rather, they hope to have a million-dollar advertising campaign to improve the image of attorneys and engage in more market research. (Gail Applebaum, “State Bar may advertise to help lawyers”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 23). In the press account, ISBA official David Anderson disingenuously argues that Madison County isn’t a judicial hellhole because of the number of medical malpractice verdicts—ignoring that the number of med-mal verdicts has nothing to do with Madison County’s deservedly poor reputation.

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First Lawful Commerce in Arms Act challenge

Eastern District of New York Judge Jack Weinstein heard the first challenge to the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act Monday. Tom Perrotta of the New York Law Journal reports that Weinstein was dismissive of the constitutional arguments, but possibly open to the plaintiffs’ attempt to expand an exception in the Act into a loophole that would encompass virtually all litigation against gun manufacturers. (NYC Claims Exception in New Federal Law Allows Gun Suit, Nov. 23). See also Nov. 9; Apr. 13, 2004.

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“7th Circuit Giveth–Then Taketh Away”

Budget Rent A Car won sanctions for its adversary’s filing of a frivolous appeal, but lost its ability to recover its fees when it submitted what the court, in a Judge Posner opinion, called an “exorbitant” nine-thousand-dollar bill. (David L. Hudson Jr., ABA Journal eReport, Nov. 18). But were the fees really that exorbitant? Point of Law explores why they perhaps might not have been.

Also on Point of Law:

Read it every day.

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Terrell Owens update

An NFL arbitrator has upheld his suspension from the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles had not commented much to the press during the controversy, leaving the coverage relatively lopsided. The full opinion is on ESPN.com, and adds much detail showing the decision to be considerably more justified than press coverage had indicated—a worthy reminder the next time your local news gives a three-minute segment over to a plaintiff’s attorney’s unrebutted claim against a corporate defendant. Earlier Owens coverage: Nov. 14 and Jan. 27.

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Damned if you do, damned if you don’t files: toy safety

Maryland PIRG complains about the toy industry:

Some toy manufacturers are over-labeling toys by placing choke hazard warnings on items that do not contain small parts. This could dilute the meaning of the warning labels, making them less useful to parents.

One looks forward to the day where a Ralph Nader-founded organization intervenes as amicus in a failure-to-warn lawsuit to make the argument that liability should not be found because holding a manufacturer liable will create incentives to over-label and dilute the meaning of warnings.

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