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Man sues couple he kidnapped

Insane. I personally believe kidnapping should be a mandatory death sentence (or at least life in prison) because it shows intent to kill. You rarely hear about kidnapping victims being found alive.

That being said this seems more like a hostage act that a kidnapping but it doesn't make this any less ridiculous.

It reminds me of the case where the dumb lady spilled her coffee on herself and sued mcdonalds because it was "too hot" and won.

I really wish there was a law against friviolous lawsuits.
 
chrono1081 said:
Insane. I personally believe kidnapping should be a mandatory death sentence (or at least life in prison) because it shows intent to kill. You rarely hear about kidnapping victims being found alive.

That being said this seems more like a hostage act that a kidnapping but it doesn't make this any less ridiculous.

It reminds me of the case where the dumb lady spilled her coffee on herself and sued mcdonalds because it was "too hot" and won.

I really wish there was a law against friviolous lawsuits.
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Only in the US. Yikes.

And @chrono...I watched a doc on the HBO Go app..I think it was called Hot Coffee..it focused on that case and a few others. It was really, really interesting. Not that I'm for "frivolous" lawsuits, but it makes you think.
 
Contracts executed under duress are invalid. This will be thrown out.
 
rdowns said:
Contracts executed under duress are invalid. This will be thrown out.
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Plus contracts to commit a crime are invalid, and harboring a fugitive is a crime. And forcing someone to watch Patch Adams should be illegal if it isn't already.
 
the couple gained his trust by eating Cheetos and drinking Dr Pepper with him while watching the movie “Patch Adams.”
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Okay, Cheetos, yes, Dr. Pepper, sure. But you make me watch Patch Adams and there's not going to be any way we can do business together. :p
 
I agree 100%

chrono1081 said:
Insane. I personally believe kidnapping should be a mandatory death sentence (or at least life in prison) because it shows intent to kill. You rarely hear about kidnapping victims being found alive.

That being said this seems more like a hostage act that a kidnapping but it doesn't make this any less ridiculous.

It reminds me of the case where the dumb lady spilled her coffee on herself and sued mcdonalds because it was "too hot" and won.

I really wish there was a law against friviolous lawsuits.
Click to expand...
 
chrono1081 said:
It reminds me of the case where the dumb lady spilled her coffee on herself and sued mcdonalds because it was "too hot" and won.
Click to expand...

The case you're referring too wasn't as ridiculous as many people think. The lady in question suffered 3rd degree burns over 8% of her body, 2nd degree over another 10% or so, a circumcision by scalding, and was horribly disfigured and in pain for the rest of her life.

The coffee was too hot.
 
Moyank24 said:
Only in the US. Yikes.

And @chrono...I watched a doc on the HBO Go app..I think it was called Hot Coffee..it focused on that case and a few others. It was really, really interesting. Not that I'm for "frivolous" lawsuits, but it makes you think.
Click to expand...

I'll have to see if I can find that. I did see an awesome one on TruTV where some lady set up a fraudulent "slip and fall" accident where she poured water on the floor, sat in it and pretended to fall. Too bad she did it right in front of a security camera ;)
 
Coffee is made at around 200 °F, what temp causes 2nd degree burns? 150 or so?

Darth.Titan said:
The case you're referring too wasn't as ridiculous as many people think. The lady in question suffered 3rd degree burns over 8% of her body, 2nd degree over another 10% or so, a circumcision by scalding, and was horribly disfigured and in pain for the rest of her life.

The coffee was too hot.
Click to expand...
 
ericrwalker said:
Coffee is made at around 200 °F, what temp causes 2nd degree burns? 150 or so?
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A few websites say home-brewed coffee is usually around 140F when served.

I found this:

hot_water_burn_scalding_lrg.gif


So if you stuck your finger directly in a cup of coffee you made yourself, you might sustain a 3rd degree burn, but it would be far more challenging than at 200F, where accidental exposure is more likely to injure.

I guess what made the injuries so disastrous for that woman is that it was enough liquid to soak into her clothes and then she couldn't get the liquid away from her skin.

I also found a number of web analyses of the coffee lawsuit that all seem to agree it was not a trivial case.

FWIW (I thought the reads were quite interesting).
 
Home brewed coffee. I have had coffee at starbucks that I had to wait 20 minutes before I could touch it.

I believe coffee shops brew at around 200 or so.


I thought about that, with having clothes on, that you can't get the coffee off you...either way...sucks.

mkrishnan said:
A few websites say home-brewed coffee is usually around 140F when served.

I found this:

Image

And a number of web analyses of the coffee lawsuit that all seem to agree it was not a trivial case.
Click to expand...
 
a Topeka police officer’s rifle accidentally discharged, striking Dimmick in the back.
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Seems to me like he should be suing Topeka and the Police Department.
 
Darth.Titan said:
The case you're referring too wasn't as ridiculous as many people think. The lady in question suffered 3rd degree burns over 8% of her body, 2nd degree over another 10% or so, a circumcision by scalding, and was horribly disfigured and in pain for the rest of her life.

The coffee was too hot.
Click to expand...

Exactly...and this is kind of what that documentary was about. And if you see the pictures of her injuries...it's not a simple case of just getting burned.
 
^^^ Great minds, Rodimus.

MacRy said:
Wasn't she driving with it on her lap though? No sympathy!
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Liebeck v. McDonald's

She was in the car with a family member and they were in a parking spot. The car wasn't moving and she was in the passenger seat. She was never driving the car. The coffee spilled on her when she opened the lid I believe. There seemed to be a lot of misinformation about the circumstances of that case at the time. Apparently, she just wanted McDonald's to pay the medical bills - and they refused. The jury awarded huge damages, but I'm not sure that's what she was actually suing for. It was found that the coffee was too hot..and McDonald's had had many, many complaints about it in the past and hadn't done anything.

Like I said, I'm completely against 99% of these "frivolous" lawsuits. But google the pictures of this woman's injuries. She looks like she was in a fire. They're that bad.

Either way, that documentary was pretty interesting.
 
Just to add this here... what are the chances of accidental "rifle discharge"? That claim seems totally bogus whether or not he actually had a good reason to fire at that point.

chrono1081 said:
Insane. I personally believe kidnapping should be a mandatory death sentence (or at least life in prison) because it shows intent to kill. You rarely hear about kidnapping victims being found alive.

That being said this seems more like a hostage act that a kidnapping but it doesn't make this any less ridiculous.

It reminds me of the case where the dumb lady spilled her coffee on herself and sued mcdonalds because it was "too hot" and won.

I really wish there was a law against friviolous lawsuits.
Click to expand...

You really need to read up on the McDonalds case. As another reply mentioned it was reported in an incredibly biased manner, and she was never even allowed to respond after the case. There are frivolous lawsuits but they're not always the ones you're led to believe are frivolous.

On the death sentence, that should have gone away long ago. The reason is that it makes us murderers too. Many people have been absolved of crimes after execution via advancements in things like dna tests. I don't have exact numbers, but quantity doesn't really matter here. It's not okay to do that to anyone, and the legal system isn't infallible.


Moyank24 said:
She was in the car with a family member and they were in a parking spot. The car wasn't moving and she was in the passenger seat. She was never driving the car. The coffee spilled on her when she opened the lid I believe. There seemed to be a lot of misinformation about the circumstances of that case at the time. Apparently, she just wanted McDonald's to pay the medical bills - and they refused. The jury awarded huge damages, but I'm not sure that's what she was actually suing for. It was found that the coffee was too hot..and McDonald's had had many, many complaints about it in the past and hadn't done anything.
Click to expand...

The headlines against that woman were incredibly biased. You're correct that she simply wanted her medical bills covered and that it was a lawsuit over the safety of things were served. Accidents do happen, and no one should expect hospital bills just because they spilled coffee. Basically she was awarded damages but not allowed to talk about the issue. It (ridiculously) became sort of a poster child for frivolous lawsuits.

The problem when you read about frivolous lawsuits in general is that the worst offenders aren't the ones mentioned. Instead you read things with editorialized headlines and fuzzy details (not referring to the article referenced by the OP here).
 
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this reminds me of a similarly absurd case in the UK. A burglar was walking on the roof of the house, and he fell through the glass sky window. He suffered a broken spine amongst other injuries. He managed to sue (and win) the owners of the house because the glass wasn't thick enough to comply with regulations. What a system, hey? :eek:
 
Moyank24 said:
Exactly...and this is kind of what that documentary was about. And if you see the pictures of her injuries...it's not a simple case of just getting burned.
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This is correct. People are vastly misinformed about this case.
 
Darth.Titan said:
The case you're referring too wasn't as ridiculous as many people think. The lady in question suffered 3rd degree burns over 8% of her body, 2nd degree over another 10% or so, a circumcision by scalding, and was horribly disfigured and in pain for the rest of her life.

The coffee was too hot.
Click to expand...

Circumcision? How does a female get that is beyond my knowledge... and I am a surgeon.
 
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