Posts Tagged ‘ Personal Injury ’

Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See: Social Angst, the Illusory Sentence, and Blame Nike

March 20th, 2014. By LucyC

Ok—brace yourselves…it’s the “never a dull moment” side of lawyering. Regardless of whether it’s in a courtroom, a conference room or even a jail cell, lawyers surely see all kinds of crazy sh*t. And deal with it, too…

Let’s take this offline…Never mind cyber bullying—some folks like to keep it a bit more real. Two men engaged in a dispute over a Facebook post have taken to bricks and guns. No, it wasn’t a multiplayer Minecraft moment—these two went for the real deal! According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Phoenix, AZ, 22-year-old Zachary Heath Belitz faces a disorderly conduct charge based on accusations he threw a brick at the home of a Facebook group administrator.

The admin’s crime? He posted an item about Belitz’ upcoming trial on indecent exposure charges involving multiple women. Whoops. That posted tidbit had the potential to reach close to 15,000 people on FB—not including shares. Keep in mind, it’s not like the indecent exposure charges had not already been reported by multiple news outlets last fall… (fyi, Belitz goes to court on April 15)

Not content to let law and order take its course, sheriff’s officials say the Facebook administrator—Eric Woodson, who heads up the local FB page “The Neighborhood Watchers”–ran outside with a shotgun and fired twice at a truck, presumably with Belitz inside, who fled the scene. No one was hurt. It wasn’t known whether Belitz has an attorney yet for this latest hiccup. He might be looking for one–any volunteers?

Texas Style Justice? In 1977, Jerry Hartfield was convicted and received the death sentence for murder in Bay City, Texas. Seems straight forward enough. And, like a good prisoner, he has subsequently served 37 years, presumably without incident. But there’s a problem. (You knew that was coming). It seems that Hartfield’s sentence was actually overturned in 1977. BUT, in 1987 the governor at the time commuted Hartfield’s sentence to life in prison, before Hartfield was able to demand his release. Say what?

It might be worth mentioning here that court documents describe Hartfield as being illiterate with an IQ of 51. Back to the story…

Cut to 2006 – a fellow inmate convinced Hartfield to apply for a retrial—based on the grounds that his sentence was illusory—there was no sentence to commute! The motion for retrial has since been granted, and Hartfield is set to go to court this April.

While attorneys representing Hartfield call their client’s treatment a blatant violation of justice, the prosecutors have actually suggested that Hartfield himself is to blame for his 30 year stay in prison. And no, I am not making this up.

And it just keeps getting crazier…

Just Do It Baby! Twenty-six year old inmate and former pimp Sirgiorgio Clardy recently decided to take matters in to his own hands. Doing time in Oregon for beating up a john who failed to pay, he has now handwritten a $100 million lawsuit naming Nike as the defendant. Not connecting the dots between pimp + john + jail + Nike? Ok, here we go…

Clardy claims that Nike inadequately marketed its Air Jordans—the ones you wear to “be like Mike”. See, Clardy was wearing a pair when he stomped and kicked the john using a “dangerous weapon” – the Nike Airs. He apparently maimed the john’s face. Clardy quite naturally believes that because Nike allegedly failed to label its shoes as dangerous weapons, the company is partly to blame for his incarceration. Where the heck’s the ATF weighing in on this one?

Clardy’s rap sheet has more sheets than a roll of Scott’s toilet tissue—and as such, he’s seen the interior of a court room a fews time before. (That’s him, strapped into a chair in court, in a picture that first ran in The Oregonian.) Lawyers within an arms’ length radius of him have been spit on and threatened, according to reports, and one judge who figured out that Clardy might have a tough time seeking willing counsel, appointed a legal advisor. Wasn’t long before he cried uncle and got off that case. (That’s the legal advisor, sitting at a safe distance, in the foreground of the pic.)

Yep. Lawyers see plenty of crazy sh*t.

 

Tags: Civil Court, Crazy Lawsuit, Criminal Court, Defense Attorney, lawsuits, Lawyers, Legal Advisor, Legal Humor, Personal Injury, Public Defender, Weird Lawsuit
Posted in Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See | 1 Comment »

Law News For You: Energy Drink ER Trips Skyrocket

June 18th, 2013. By AbiK

Tags: Monster Energy Drink, Monster Energy Drink Lawsuit, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
Posted in Complaints/Comments, Consumer Fraud, Food Illness, lawsuits, Lawyers, Personal Injury | No Comments »

Duh. Watch College Kids React to Monster Energy Death News (Parent Alert!)

June 14th, 2013. By AbiK

Add energy drinks to the list of worries for parents sending kids off to college. Of course, energy drinks seem to pale when compared to sex, drugs, alcohol and all that comes with that trio of vices—from OD’ing, to date rape, to DUI’s. But that’s the thing—energy drinks seem…so…harmless, right? After all, they’re sold in convenience stores and vending machines right next to the bags of chips…

If the above news clip is any indication, energy drinks are quite popular on college campuses—and just as readily available as coffee. So why the fuss?

The fuss is due to a pending lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink that alleges that 14-year old Anais Fournier went into cardiac arrest and died after drinking two 24-ounce cans of Monster in less than 24 hours. (Check out our interview with attorney Kevin Goldberg of Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester–he’s one of the attorneys representing the Fournier’s).

And there’s also the lawsuit filed by San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera which claims the Monster caffeine levels can lead to elevated blood pressure, seizures and cardiac arrest. That’s all bad enough (if true) but the real fuss ought to be that Monster’s being marketed to kids. Your kids.

RELATED: SRSLY? ABA Rep Tries to Defend High Caffeine Energy Drinks #EpicFail

Let’s back up a moment. There was a time when college exam cram time meant coffee-infused study sessions, splashing your face with cold water and relying on whatever other natural means there were to stay awake and pull an all-nighter. Sure, some kids popped the occasional No-Doz (some still do)—not a good practice, but there’s a bit of a difference: when was the last time you saw No-Doz logos popping up all over black hoodies or on the “sponsor” list of latest batch of rad, gnarly, wicked or badass athletes?

Not remembering?

That would be because No-Doz doesn’t really market itself that way. It knows its place isn’t in the culture of cool. Monster Energy, however, does something different. By selling (allegedly) extreme caffeine in drink form rather than pill form, it’s tried to create a whole lifestyle around ramping things up a notch. Or two. Or three.

Here’s how the ‘guys’ at Monster talk about themselves (straight from their website):

In short, at Monster all our guys walk the walk in action sports, punk rock music, partying, hangin’ with the girls, and living life on the edge. Monster is way more than an energy drink. Led by our athletes, musicians, employees, distributors and fans, Monster is… 

A lifestyle in a can

Right. “Lifestyle in a can”. Live life on that edge, dude.

See, somehow when you put it in drink form, wrap the can in cool graphics, and get extreme sports icons to promote it, downing super-charged soda somehow becomes cool. The sexed up version of caffeine pills. And the marketers at Monster know that. They know how impressionable kids, pre-teens, teens and even twenty-somethings can be. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen any banner ads for Monster over at AARP. Why? Because your average grown-up over the age of 40 knows a soft drink loaded with caffeine is bullshit.

Monster markets to a gullible crowd—and one that thinks it’s invincible.

Unfortunately, if the allegations surrounding the Anais Fournier case prove true, and if reports on the increase in energy drink-related emergency room visits* are any indication, the very folks Monster is marketing to are not invincible. They’re vulnerable—first mentally for buying into this marketing crap, and possibly physically for drinking it.

As parents, sometimes it’s the more innocent-looking influences—the wolf in sheep’s clothing—that are more insidious than the stuff we’re reminded to be wary about on a daily basis.

*In 2011, the US Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) reported a tenfold spike in emergency room visits involving energy drinks. Approximately 70% of cases involving teens from ages 12 to 17 going to ER was due to energy drinks itself – without drugs or alcohol. Most hospitalizations are caused by dehydration, heat exhaustion and heart problems. A January 2013 update from DAWN indicates that from 2007 to 2011 the number of energy drink ER visits doubled, with 20,783 reported emergency room visits due to energy drink consumption in 2011.

Tags: Monster Energy Drink, Monster Energy Drink Lawsuit, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death
Posted in Emerging Issues, lawsuits, Personal Injury | No Comments »

With Golf Cart Accidents on the Rise, how Stupid can you be in a Golf Cart?

May 6th, 2013. By AbiK

Apparently pretty stupid!

Given a top speed of around 15 miles per hour, golf carts aren’t exactly the speed racers that come to mind when you think about potentially dangerous accidents. But it’s that very image that can also create a false sense of safety for those who operate and/or ride in a golf cart.

Not all that long ago golf carts were simply that: carts used for playing golf. And they conjured up a speed demon image right up there with Fred Flintstone’s footmobile–only swapping out foot calluses for golf cleats. But with an increase in planned communities—particularly in Florida, California, Arizona, or Peachtree City, GA—as well as an increase in use on corporate and college campuses—golf carts have become more prevalent. And who ever imagined the day that homes would be built with custom golf cart garages?

Well, the increase in popularity has seemingly given way to an increase in golf cart injuries, too. According to an article in  Herald Tribune Golf (June, 2012), the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported that injuries from being hit by or falling off of golf carts spiked 132 percent from 1990 to 2006. That translated to nearly 150,000 people, ranging in age from 2 months to 96 years, getting hurt in golf cart accidents over that time period.

Why the increase?

Let’s start with the fact that the golf cart is the new town cruiser—less work than a taking a bicycle; less of a pain than taking a car. But, unlike a car, in some states—Alabama, California, Iowa, Kansas, Rhode Island, and Vermont—the minimum age to sit behind the golf cart wheel is thirteen. In Florida, it’s fourteen. The rest of the states put the minimum age to drive a golf cart at fifteen. That’s not to say that a teen can’t be a responsible driver. But one only needs to take a look at the above video to understand how teen stupidity can contribute to a golf cart accident.

On the flip side, there’s no maximum driving age. Of course, it’s not like every state has an age limit—or even just a vision test—for older car drivers either. But it’s a safe bet that some elderly drivers should not be putting the pedal to the metal regardless of vehicle size or speed.

Unfortunately, golf cart accidents can lead to some pretty serious injuries—including death. A sharp turn, for example, can cause passengers to fall out leading to spinal injury, fracture or concussion. But even seemingly harmless behavior like hanging a leg out over the side of the golf cart or forgetting to put the brake in the locked position when getting out of the golf cart can lead to injury as well. And it goes without saying that once alcohol and/or drugs are involved, stupidity usually follows…

So now that golf cart season is actually all seasons, golf cart safety needs to become an all-season concern as well.

 

 

Tags: Back Injury, Concussion, Golf Cart Accident, Neck Injury, Personal Injury, Spine Injury
Posted in Emerging Issues, Personal Injury | No Comments »

Lawsuit: Medieval Times Honeymoon Leaves Husband Blind

September 21st, 2012. By AbiK

Medieval Times may not be your #1 honeymoon destination. Oh, there’s courtly love and Chippendale’s-worthy guys—er, knights—riding around on horses and jousting over something or other. Hey, there’s even falconry (whatever that is). But there are also no utensils with which to dine—and horses kicking up dust as you’re trying to dig into the grub. Honey, let’s go there!

That’s exactly what newlyweds Dustin and Melissa Wiseman did last year in Buena Park, CA—and they bought VIP seats. Who knows what prompted them to go except for the fact that there is no Medieval Times in their home state of South Dakota. So maybe there was no one at home to forewarn them about the no-forks thing or to toss a sarcastic “Seriously?” at them upon hearing of their dinner show plans. Regardless, up for a just-married good time, they went.

Should’ve been a terrific show—except Dustin Wiseman wound up going blind in one eye. And now there’s a Medieval Times injury lawsuit. How? Read on.

Over dinner the Wisemans were enjoying the brave—epic!— battle that was unfolding before their eyes. At one point, two jousting knights had at it right in front of their front row seats. The next thing they knew, as titanium swords clashed and sparked before them, some flaming shards went airborne. One of those shards allegedly flew off one of the swords and hit Dustin Wiseman directly in the eye, tearing his cornea and lens and injuring his retina in multiple places.

Needless to say, honeymoon over. The Wisemans wound up at the hospital and Dustin has since had multiple surgeries on his eye. Even with the surgeries, he remains legally blind in one eye.

The lawsuit, Dustin and Melissa Wiseman v. Medieval Times Entertainment, Inc., was filed in Orange County Superior Court (Case No. 00582195) and is seeking damages of over one million dollars. The Wisemans are represented by R. Rex Parris law firm.

Final note: a quick check on the Medieval Times website provides this as an enticement…

“Surrender to an age of bravery and honor and witness epic battles of steel and steed during our ALL-NEW SHOW. From ringside seats, discover a feast of the eyes and appetite with more action, more fun & more excitement than ever before.”

Shouldn’t that be a feast for the eyes?

Sadly, Dustin Wiseman now knows all too well that the evening should’ve been for his eyes, not at the expense of them. Maybe next time a little troubadour action would suffice.

Tags: Dustin Wiseman, Honeymoon Lawsuit, Medieval Times, Personal Injury, R Rex Parris
Posted in Lawyers, Personal Injury | 3 Comments »