Category Archives: Settlements

73 Year Old Woman Raped in Central Park

Justice

I mean, Central Park was never safe after dark but now the danger has creeped up in the middle of the day.  A 73 year old woman birdwatching off a path near Strawberry Fields was raped and robbed of her camera.  The sick part about it is that this was not the first encounter that she had with this gentleman.  Earlier in the week she spotted him in Central Park exposing himself.  She took a picture to show authorities and would not delete it after he told her to.  In retaliation to the photo bomb he found the 73 year old woman again in the park birdwatching.  The rapist asked an alarming question, “Do you remember me?” before proceeding to beat and sexually assault the woman.  Eric Ozawa found the woman and called the police after she informed him she had been raped.  The man that sexually assaulted the woman was identified as in his 40’s, white, with a Russian or Ukrainian accent.

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Hot Coffee, Tort Reform & the Civil Justice System

Hot coffee

 I recently saw a documentary, Hot Coffee. It discusses the idea of tort reform and bogus lawsuits. When one thinks of frivolous lawsuits, the case of Liebeck v. McDonald’s comes to mind.  Stella Liebeck went to McDonald’s with her son.  She was the passenger. After purchasing her coffee in the drive-thru, her son parked the car.  Stella placed the coffee between her legs while she took off the lid.  The 180 degree coffee spilled on her cotton pants absorbing it through the skin. The result was severe 3rd degree burns. Look up pictures and you will be shocked at the damage. The trial uncovered hundreds of past cases and proved that there was no reason to hold the coffee at that temperature. The jury decided to give Ms. Liebeck a few minutes of McDonald’s national coffee sales for her pain & suffering. That figure amounted to roughly $3 million dollars. The verdict was then lowered substantially by the judge; a power passed by the state legislature.

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Man On The Lamb Turns Himself In

A lamb on the lamb

A career criminal John Thomas, turned himself in after being on the lamb for a month. He first caught the attention of Detective Nick Romano and Sergeant Craig Brier for suspicious activity in the parking lot of an auto-supply store in Jamaica Queens.  When the law enforcers approached Thomas in an attempt to question him he made a run for it.  As Romano and Brier chased Thomas he let off four shots, hitting Brier once in both legs.  After the massive manhunt spanning an entire month, the wounded 15-year veteran was relieved when John Thomas decided to turn himself in.  This uncharacteristic surrender comes as a welcome surprise to everyone, especially Brier’s mother who said she got goose bumps when she heard the news.  Now, Thomas faces charges of attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and assault.

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Victim 1 of Sandusky Case Sues Penn State Over Concealing the Abuse

We Are…

 

Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant football coach of the Penn State football team was convicted in June of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15 year period. One of the victims involved in the Jerry Sandusky case, identified by the Grand Jury as “Victim 1” recently sued Penn State on Friday, August 31st.  He claimed that the school had helped to conceal the abuse of the children and was more interested in “protecting the reputation and commercial viability of the football program” than putting a stop to a child predator. Victim 1 also accused notable Penn State administrators, including Joe Paterno, with the knowledge that Jerry Sandusky was a “dangerous, sociopathic sexual predator who had previously raped, sodomized, and/or otherwise seriously harmed young boys on the Penn State campus.”

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OMG! One Direction Gets To Keep Their Name!

Not a fan

British boy band One Direction has recently settled with an American punk band of the same name who attempted to sue the band declaring they had the name first. The California-based punk band, who mostly plays local fairs and bars, claim to have been using the name since 2009.  In maybe the least punk-rock move ever, the American One Direction reportedly asked for $1 million dollars and and a percentage of the teenybopper’s future success. The settlement did include a monetary exchange, but the amount remains undisclosed.

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