Archive for August, 2008
Thursday, August 14th, 2008
Well, my previous prediction was right where it counted, wrong in the timing: today a Houston civil jury in the assault case filed by a flight attendant against Victoria Osteen returned a defense verdict (nailed that part) after several hours of deliberation (missed that one). Edit: MSNBC reporting that the jury reached its verdict after “brief deliberations.”
Some media are reporting that the jury found Osteen “not guilty.” Although that probably conveys an accurate description of the result in the minds of many, this wasn’t a criminal matter. Rather, the plaintiff sued the defendant for assault (and money damages) and the jury was likely asked a yes/no question on whether the assault occurred. Civil juries decide liability, criminal juries decide guilt/innocence. Law Dork will be quiet now.
Tags: jury trials, Osteen
Posted in Jury, Rule of Law, tort | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
Good article in the Houston Chronicle today about how the recent bus wreck tragedies in Texas, Nevada and Mississippi have brought bus safety to the forefront of the politicians in D.C. and Austin. Among other things, there are bills being floated that will require buses to have seatbelts for passengers. That sounds reasonable and somewhat of a no-brainer. I would also suggest that bus carriers be required to carry vast amounts of liability insurance, something on the order of $25 million or thereabouts. Because when a tragedy occurs like the one we just saw in Sherman, dozens of lives are affected and I’ll bet there will be little - if any - insurance to help compensate victims.
One striking statistic in the Chronicle article is that in the past six years, 52 people have died in passenger bus accidents in Texas. That is appalling.
As an aside, Chronicle writer Clay Robison has had some great articles in the past exposing the plights of injured consumers. Tip of the hat to Clay.
Tags: bus accidents, bus wreck, legislation
Posted in car wreck, consumer safety, personal injury, truck accident, wrecks | Comments Off
Friday, August 8th, 2008
What a terrible bus wreck early this morning in Sherman. 14 dead and at least 40 injured, according to recent reports, after the bus lost control and ran off a highway overpass. Many of the victims are described as Vietnamese Catholics from the Houston area on their way to a religious meeting in Missouri. It was reported on the radio today that the charter bus company may have been operating without a license, which it apparently lost several weeks ago. Over 20 ambulances and 18 helicopters were needed to transport victims to trauma hospitals in Dallas and elsewhere. What a tragedy.
Tags: bus accidents, bus wreck, Sherman
Posted in Trucking Accidents, consumer safety, truck accident, wrecks | Comments Off
Thursday, August 7th, 2008
…let me apologize for this.
As if we needed more bad publicity, now a flight attendant has sued Joel Osteen’s wife over an alleged assault which occurred when Mrs. Osteen got upset when something wasn’t quite right in First Class.
According to court documents, the plaintiff is suing Osteen for causing “anxiety and hemorrhoids” because of the assault, as well as a loss of faith. I can’t wait to see how the plaintiff attempts to prove causation. I read somewhere that the plaintiff is seeking punitive damages of 10% of Osteen’s net worth, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of a gazillion dollars. Good luck with that.
Prediction: Osteen’s lawyer Rusty Hardin will beat this plaintiff like a rented mule. IF it gets to the jury, they will deliberate for a few minutes just to be polite and then return a defense verdict. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to start thinking about how we handle this case in our next voir dires.
Tags: jury trials, Osteen
Posted in Jury, Uncategorized | Comments Off
