THERE ARE NO WORDS! "Why A Convicted Drunk Driver Is Suing His Victims"

[Jeffg010]

Is this going to be a civil case? That would mean he trying to get money for his pain and suffering?

Well when he wins his case the dead people can come back to life and pay him. How can you do a civil case when people are dead? This is all sorts of fail.

 

[TheAdvocate]

This guy already admitted fault by taking the plea deal - is it possible he was innocent and just felt he had no choice given his criminal record? Sure. But that doesn't change the fact that he voluntarily took the plea and very likely gave up the right to appeal the conviction as part of that deal.

He's not going to be able to collaterally attack the conviction through a civil lawsuit. The estate should be able to get the case dismissed on a motion to dismiss and might be able to get sanctions against the sister for filing a frivolous lawsuit. Tampa has some fairly conservative judges with very busy dockets, and whoever is assigned to this is likely not going to appreciate the case.

Seriously.

Anandtech kneejerk reaction to open legal system #648,947.

Again, ANYONE can file ANY civil claim. But at the risk of having it immediately tossed, or worse. Can we please get that concept meme'd somehow so it sticks?

And yes, the guy is a douche. But an open legal system is the only way to go.

 

[waggy]

Seriously.

Anandtech kneejerk reaction to open legal system #648,947.

Again, ANYONE can file ANY civil claim. But at the risk of having it immediately tossed, or worse. Can we please get that concept meme'd somehow so it sticks?

And yes, the guy is a douche. But an open legal system is the only way to go.

Yes he should be able to file a case. it should also be thrown out at the first oputurnity.

 

[Jeffg010]

Seriously.

Anandtech kneejerk reaction to open legal system #648,947.

Again, ANYONE can file ANY civil claim. But at the risk of having it immediately tossed, or worse. Can we please get that concept meme'd somehow so it sticks?

And yes, the guy is a douche. But an open legal system is the only way to go.

If we had a loser pays system then these retarded law suits would go away. As it is right now all one would loses is what the cost of filing the suit? Lets make it so that if you get it tossed out you must pay $1000. This would put end to it.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I don't get it, what's his case?

 

[BergeLSU]

I don't get it, what's his case?

That the other driver was at fault for the accident itself.

 

[dmcowen674]

I don't get it, what's his case?

You don't need a case, simply a lawyer that sees money from filing suit.

 

[actuarial]

If we had a loser pays system then these retarded law suits would go away. As it is right now all one would loses is what the cost of filing the suit? Lets make it so that if you get it tossed out you must pay $1000. This would put end to it.

That sounds well and good when you have completely ridiculous law suits, but not every case is so open and shut. That's why legal systems have judges and juries to sort things out.

Charging every loser is not the answer, especially when the amount of money one has can already help determine the outcome of a case.

Maybe something along the lines of allowing the defendant to file a "motion to dismiss with prejudice" (LOL) which if granted causes the plaintiff to pay both the defendant's legal fees and a fine. This could only happen at the very beginning of a suit.

 

[DrPizza]

I don't know what the evidence in the case actually was, before he took a plea. However, if the evidence was overwhelming (it probably was - a blood test, along with police observations of him after the accident would, imho, be overwhelming), then his sister should be sanctioned, else even disbarred for this crap.

I don't know why the bar association doesn't realize that actions like his sister's actions are what paints (just look at this thread - "all lawyers should be..") a bad picture of ALL lawyers. It's just a few who really make the entire field look bad.

 

[dabuddha]

Someones long overdue for a shanking or shiving or whatever the hell it is

 

[Jeffg010]

That sounds well and good when you have completely ridiculous law suits, but not every case is so open and shut. That's why legal systems have judges and juries to sort things out.

Charging every loser is not the answer, especially when the amount of money one has can already help determine the outcome of a case.

Maybe something along the lines of allowing the defendant to file a "motion to dismiss with prejudice" (LOL) which if granted causes the plaintiff to pay both the defendant's legal fees and a fine. This could only happen at the very beginning of a suit.

What you talking about if the case gets thrown out then then the loser must pay up. If the judge continues it then so be it. If on down the line he then loses he must pay up how hard is that to understand?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Florida.

 

[boomhower]

Why don't they start revoking bar licenses for filing shit like this? Start stripping some licenses and maybe this shit will slow down.

 

[actuarial]

What you talking about if the case gets thrown out then then the loser must pay up. If the judge continues it then so be it. If on down the line he then loses he must pay up how hard is that to understand?

It's not hard to understand at all. I knew that was your position, and I think it's a terrible one.

Your rule would deter people from filing reasonable claims due to the chance they may lose. The deterrent should be against unreasonable/frivolous claims.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Though I doubt it, the possibility exists that he's Innocent. This is the problem on focusing on his Record, it doesn't prove anything as to what happened in this instance. It will be very difficult for him to win this Case regardless.

And I quote

Authorities said Belniak had alcohol, Xanax and evidence of cocaine in his system.

Case closed. He was tested as being under the influence. He was speeding. He ran into the rear of another vehicle.
Not a lot of evidence to prove he's innocent.

He's a sack of shit, and his sister is too.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Where's Dexter when you need him?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

If we had a loser pays system then these retarded law suits would go away. As it is right now all one would loses is what the cost of filing the suit? Lets make it so that if you get it tossed out you must pay $1000. This would put end to it.

Yes, we should have a system where the poor can never defend themselves. What a glorious society we'd have.

 

[natto fire]

Florida.

This. I stopped reading the article after that. I lived in Florida long enough to know that there are lots of people there who have no connection to reality whatsoever. Obviously it is like that everywhere, but it seems like Floridians make it the farthest in their escapades of stupidity. I think it is a combination of limestone, excessive treatment of drinking water as well as sun exposure, but have not secured funding to test my hypothesis.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

And I quote


Case closed. He was tested as being under the influence. He was speeding. He ran into the rear of another vehicle.
Not a lot of evidence to prove he's innocent.

He's a sack of shit, and his sister is too.

How much alcohol? Was he blowing a .02 and there was evidence he used cocaine/xanax in the past 30 days? It's a lot different than if he was illegaly drunk and actively speedballing at the scene of the crime.

 

[Jaskalas]

This is we should be able to shoot lawyers.

Naw, just take the drunk driver and change his sentence to execution.

 

[Howard]

Double up on the original sentence for the lulz (and some tears).

 

[Ben90]

Guy has a stick up his ass.

 

[911paramedic]

To be fair, District Attorneys are lawyers.

And some of them are as crooked as they get...just sayin'.

First, I'd like to say that I think it's funny that he dosed himself. Didn't he ever see Hangover one or two and the downside of such actions?

Second, he rear-ended the other vehicle. You are pretty much 100% liable if you do that, it's like your dog biting somebody in CA, you are guilty...period.

Third, the guy is a certified douche for doing this.

 

[sactoking]

Here's my take based on the article in OP and this Yahoo! article.
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blog...laughter-sues-victim-130753893--abc-news.html

It's reprehensible to think about this happening but it will be thrown out.
A) The plaintiff already admitted fault by pleading guilty.
B) Six eyewitnesses confirmed that the deceased was stopped at a stop light when struck by the plaintiff
C) The victim's car's black box indicated that the vehicle was not in motion when hit by the plaintiff
D) The police report indicated that the plaintiff was DUI
E) Florida is a no-fault auto personal injury state so if the plaintiff received payment from his own coverage he has waived his right to sue the other party.
F) Florida is a no-fault auto personal injury state so if the plaintiff did not receive payment from his own coverage he has to show sustained permanent injury or significant scarring or disfigurement, or death before a valid claim can be made for quality of life damages, such as pain and suffering.

 

[destrekor]

How much alcohol? Was he blowing a .02 and there was evidence he used cocaine/xanax in the past 30 days? It's a lot different than if he was illegaly drunk and actively speedballing at the scene of the crime.

That's the bitch too. Granted, getting caught once and then finding yourself in the same situation (worse) makes things worse, as that induces bias when looking at testing results.
Most likely, such tests actually came back with sufficient evidence to accurately demonstrate he was under the influence at the time of the accident.
However, it's also highly, highly possible what showed up in the test wasn't nearly conclusive enough to pinpoint down to the hours leading up to the drug test, but likely demonstrated "this individual must have consumed said drugs sometime in the past three days" (give or take the number of days, not entirely sure on how long after the fact cocaine and xanax can be detected in your body following consumption). But like I said, a guy with a record, testing positively, in an accident - slam dunk case, especially since someone in the other vehicle died.
But shit like this is not always clean cut... he might have be high last night but sober that day... hell, he could have been sober, and he might still have caused the accident too. There are actually a few ways this could go, and no one should be so naive as to think that the legal system produces the correct outcome for a case like this every single time. A lot of bias gets introduced into legal proceedings, no matter how much we try to curb it.