good lawsuit or a greedy asshole?

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Runes911
Um yeah greedy! So many people lost way more in Katrina than a boat. A lot of people lost loved ones, animals, homes, and everything they owned. There were way more important things lost than that. This guy should pay the man who saved those people in that boat for giving him grief. I saw so many people take advantage of this whole situation and to those people I have no sympathy. I really feel bad for all of the true victims who have to put up with them.

Yup, if my father dies, I can steal your car because my loss is "worse" than yours? Your "logic" is absurd.

The only reason the boat was lost is because the defendant stole it. Had the defendant not acted to steal the vessel, it would have remained on the plaintiff's property and been recoverable. The defendant is sole-ly responsible for the loss of the boat.

ZV

While that is what the law states, this thing won't even make it to trial. It will be dismissed

 

[13Gigatons]

People lost lives and everything they owned and this guy lost his boat which the insurance company paid for which he says is half of what it was worth.

Once more the insurance companies screw somebody over.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Two things stand out here:

1. The boat was obviously in seaworthy shape when it was taken, so there was obviously not enough damage from the storm to have ruined the boat.
   The person who took the boat never returned it.

It doesn't matter if you take something and never give it back, it's stealing. The rescuer did a great thing to help people, but by not returning the boat he is absolutely, 100% liable for any and all costs to the boat's rightful owner, including the cost of replacing the boat. The rescuer is also criminally liable for theft of the boat.

ZV

Not only that, but the owner of the boat sent an initial letter trying to settle reasonably without going to court, and the guy who stole the boat ignored it.
If the owner HADN'T sent a reasonable letter, then this case would be lame, but he did, and there is an acceptable reason for asking for restitution, since his insurance co was lame.
The owner of the boat deserves compensation, and since the insurance didn't fully cover it, he gave the guy who stole it an option to make up the rest. The guy didn't take that opportunity, so it's his own fault if he gets fvcked over in court.

 

[dabuddha]

Wouldn't the good samaritan law protect him in any way?

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: waggy
link

A Broadmoor man who said he rescued more than 200 residents after commandeering a boat during the flood after Hurricane Katrina is being sued by the boat's owner for taking it "without receiving permission."

Mark Morice, who by the Wednesday after the storm said he "couldn't get more than a block or two without people screaming to me for help," took the boat "out of necessity. . . . I did it for my neighbors."

Among them was Irving Gordon, a 93-year-old dialysis patient who Morice carried from his flooded home, placed in the boat and rescued from distress

I don't know where we would be today if it weren't for him," Molly Gordon, Gordon's wife of 65 years, said Friday.

The lawsuit contends that boat owner John M. Lyons Jr. suffered his own distress, in the form of "grief, mental anguish, embarrassment and suffering . . . due to the removal of the boat," as well as its replacement costs.

E. Ronald Mills, Lyons' Metairie lawyer, who filed the suit in 24th Judicial District Court in Jefferson Parish earlier this month, on Friday accused Morice of "hubris."

Morice made no attempt to return the boat, Mills said, and it remains missing.

'Living in fear'

The Friday after the storm, Morice said, he left the city briefly to recover from a week of trolling the city's streets, "living in fear and sleeping with a shotgun." That day, after delivering 15 people to dry ground on Claiborne Avenue near the Orleans-Jefferson parish line, Morice said he parked the boat there and left it for other rescuers to use. Given the sum-of-all-fears atmosphere at the time, returning the boat "was the farthest thing from my mind," he said.

Molly Gordon said she was baffled by the lawsuit.



wow not sure about this one. on one hand the guy did take his boat. if there was any damage it should be fixed. but then again it get hit by a hurricane.

the problem here is the boat was never returned... its still missing... so yah I'd be pissed too.

if he borrowed and brought it back there prolly would be no issue.. the boat survived the hurricane only to be lost by someone that stole it afterward (even for a good cause)

 

[sinucus]

"E. Ronald Mills, Lyons' Metairie lawyer." There is your answer right there, people from Metairie are *$#^*#.

All kidding aside, this lawsuit is crap. When I went into the city during the storm there were boats littering the streets. The city declared Martial Law and stated to the public that *ANY* boat would be commandeered. It was to be assumed that if you owned a boat and it was parked in the city of New Orleans that it wasn't going to be there when you got back.

P.S. Using this crackheads mentality I should sue the National Guard because they kicked my front door in to see if I was dead inside. People like this make me sick.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Yup, if my father dies, I can steal your car because my loss is "worse" than yours? Your "logic" is absurd.

So is your's... because the death of your father would hardly compare to a catostrophic natural disaster, and you stealing his car wouldn't save your father's life and the lives of at least 200 others.


Yeah, by definition it's theft, but given the situation, would YOU look at the boat and not at least THINK of all those people stranded on their rooftops?

One person in this trial has human decency. One is a materialistic prick. Legal or not, that is pretty damn true.

Yes, he deserves to get his boat replaced, but the reasons stated in the lawsuit are such a pile of crap that it's annoying. If he's suffering from mental anguish, embarassment and grief from not having his boat, he needs a psych ward, not a lawsuit.

 

[theknight571]

My question is why wasn't John M. Lyons Jr out in his boat helping.

I do agree though that technically the boat was stolen and lost, and technially the guy who took it is guilty.

I don't agree with turning the guy into a criminal though... you gotta be able to work something out, outside of the legal system.

 

[Tobolo]

He should be entitled to the funds for his boat but I would consider the guy that took it, one hell of a man.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Doesn't this guy have insurance? What a POS douchebag.

 

[loup garou]

Suit has been dropped.

 

[JS80]

no good deeds go unpunished

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I think we should contact his insurance company and tell them this little tidbit "But all the boats his friends suggested either sank or already had been put to use, Morice said. On State Street Drive, however, he noticed two boats that appeared usable and used bolt cutters to cut gate locks and check them out. Morice said he took Lyons' because the keys were in the ignition. He said he didn't know who owned it."

If insurance finds out you left the keys in your car and it got stolen they won't cover it. The guy obviously lied to the insurance company when he filed his claim. That fraud.

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Slew Foot
Well, he should get compensated for the boat, but not much else.

right. he should be compensated for a used boat that just went through a hurricane. soo how much do you think that is worth?

Boat compensation would be nice, but the community (or at least the people that this person saved) should pull some money together to pay for the boat. All the other stuff is ridiculous.

 

[preslove]

When I read the following all ambiguity went out the window:

The lawsuit accuses Morice of taking the boat "solely to promote himself and his law practice." Although he appeared in several newspapers in the storm's aftermath, Morice said he never sought the publicity.

Fvck the boat owner.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
I think we should contact his insurance company and tell them this little tidbit "But all the boats his friends suggested either sank or already had been put to use, Morice said. On State Street Drive, however, he noticed two boats that appeared usable and used bolt cutters to cut gate locks and check them out. Morice said he took Lyons' because the keys were in the ignition. He said he didn't know who owned it."

If insurance finds out you left the keys in your car and it got stolen they won't cover it. The guy obviously lied to the insurance company when he filed his claim. That fraud.

Are you sure the same applies to a boat that is not in the water? It's not like a person can just hop in the boat and take off with it, they'd have to steal it from wherever it is stored first. And if they've stolen it from where it is stored, it really makes no difference if they have the keys or not, that's just a minor inconvenience.

 

[BW86]

gimmie a break

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: theknight571
My question is why wasn't John M. Lyons Jr out in his boat helping.

He was smart enough to GTFO of Dodge before the hurricane apparantly!

 

[marvdmartian]

A smart judge would state that before the storm, the boat was worth X number of dollars, but after being beat up by the storm, it was depreciated considerably....to, say, $25. Until it was used to rescue people that needed help, which made it priceless. Since a price could no longer be placed on it, the defendant should pay for the previous value of the boat. Then let the jerkweed who brought this ridiculous case to court pay court costs!

If he balks at that, offer him the alternative of a public horsewhipping!! :|

edit........missed the part where the suit was dropped, and couldn't edit before someone makes a comment......such is life, eh? :roll:

 

[loup garou]

I love people who don't read the thread.

 

[Extelleron]

To this all I respond with one of my favorite quotes:

"Common good before individual good"

 

[Kwaipie]

Replace the boat. He should have put it back where he found it. Good lawsuit.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: loup garou
Suit has been dropped.

very good. thanks for the update!