good lawsuit or a greedy asshole?

[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.

 

[Balt]

No good deed goes unpunished. Especially in New Orleans.

 

[Kaervak]

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.

Go die in a fire, asshole.

 

[ElFenix]

i bet lyons won't ask for a jury and morice will.

of course, that's what i would think in just about any jurisdiction in the US but louisiana. i have no idea how the civil law treats these things.

 

[episodic]

Everyone is high and mighty till their stuff is sequestered. The boat was never found. . .why didn't he bring it back? Just think if it were yours and insurance did not cover it. . . The mental anguish part is BS imho - but the boat should be made whole.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Greedy asshole...

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.

I could see him wanting to be reimbursed for the loss of the boat but mental anguish, embarrasment, suffering...? Gimmie a break.

 

[BooGiMaN]

"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."


embarrassment?!?!?!

huh?

 

[mugs]

Well... the guy's boat was taken and now it is gone. Whose fault is that? Who SHOULD pay for it?

On the other hand, what would have happened if this guy had not "borrowed it"? It probably would have been stolen (which is probably what happened anyway).

Tough call.

 

[episodic]

I think all that verbage is standard legal lingo. . .The boat should be replaced. Nothing more. . .

Think about if it did not have to be replaced. Everytime there is some percieved emergency - then everyone will have the right to take your stuff. . .

 

[Sqube]

He's a greedy asshole, plain and simple.

 

[episodic]

Originally posted by: mugs
Well... the guy's boat was taken and now it is gone. Whose fault is that? Who SHOULD pay for it?

On the other hand, what would have happened if this guy had not "borrowed it"? It probably would have been stolen (which is probably what happened anyway).

Tough call.

That is why this isn't criminal. The mens rea was certainly not criminal. However, there is a tort - a loss.

 

[Kelvrick]

Yea, the anguish part is in there, but then it'll probably be argued down to the replacement cost for the boat.

If he had insurance and they paid for the boat, then he's a greedy ass.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: episodic

Originally posted by: mugs
Well... the guy's boat was taken and now it is gone. Whose fault is that? Who SHOULD pay for it?

On the other hand, what would have happened if this guy had not "borrowed it"? It probably would have been stolen (which is probably what happened anyway).

Tough call.

That is why this isn't criminal. The mens rea was certainly not criminal. However, there is a tort - a loss.

righ the should file a thieft report on his insurance. I do think he should get what the boat was worht at the time. so it went through a hurricane and was used. so whatever market value for that is worht.

the embarresment, grief, mental anguish and suffering are what make him a greedy asshole.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: episodic

Originally posted by: mugs
Well... the guy's boat was taken and now it is gone. Whose fault is that? Who SHOULD pay for it?

On the other hand, what would have happened if this guy had not "borrowed it"? It probably would have been stolen (which is probably what happened anyway).

Tough call.

That is why this isn't criminal. The mens rea was certainly not criminal. However, there is a tort - a loss.

do they even have mens rea in louisiana? do they have torts? it's civil law. it's strange and weird. they don't have trusts (rather, they have the usufruct)

 

[Nik]

Watch, he'll win too. :frown:

 

[Slew Foot]

Well, he should get compensated for the boat, but not much else.

 

[blackbishop26]

thing is, what kind of boat was it. willing to bet it was an aluminum johnboat. you can buy one for about two hundred dollars with a small trolling motor. owner should have just asked for the cash instead of filing for a lawsuit saying he suffered anguish over it. what a whiner, if i was a judge i would smack him with the money to replace it then throw my gavel at him

 

[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?

 

[tommywishbone]

Originally posted by: Sqube
He's a greedy asshole, plain and simple.

x 10

 

[Shame]

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?

three fitty?

 

[tommywishbone]

That monster wants three fitty!!

 

[doze]

If the guy didn't get insurance or fema money for his boat then he deserves something, but he shouldn't sue the guy who took it to help people during a disaster.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Talk about setting yourself up to be hated by your neighbors. Hope he enjoys having his house egged and trees TP'd every other week.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: blackbishop26
thing is, what kind of boat was it. willing to bet it was an aluminum johnboat. you can buy one for about two hundred dollars with a small trolling motor. owner should have just asked for the cash instead of filing for a lawsuit saying he suffered anguish over it. what a whiner, if i was a judge i would smack him with the money to replace it then throw my gavel at him

Lyons' boat, an 18-foot, 1998-model 180 Sea Sport,

I think it's one of these: http://www.omahamarinecenter.com/used_boats/05%20180.jpg

 

[mugs]

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?

In January, he received a letter from Mills noting that the Lyons had received less than half the replacement value of the boat and its motor from their insurance.

The letter asked Morice for $12,000 to "settle this matter."

Morice said he thought the letter was "a joke" and paid little attention to it until this month, when the lawsuit was filed.

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.

Mills said Morice could have been more responsible when he took the Lyons' boat.

"If I felt I had to take the boat I would have at least left a note," Mills said.

Morice's reaction? "Next time there's a major storm or natural disaster and I'm called to save lives, I'll try to remember to bring a pen and paper," he said.