The level of stupidity in the US is amazing, including the people serving
on the juries as well.

It's time again for the annual "Stella Awards"! For those unfamiliar with
these awards, they are named after 81-year-old *Stella Liebeck* who spilled
hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico,
where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee
and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think
one could get burned doing that?

That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and
verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch
your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stella's of the year:

SEVENTH PLACE

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her
peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running
inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised
by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.


SIXTH PLACE

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical
expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman
apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he
was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

FIFTH PLACE

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just
burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic
garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to
open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting
the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit
for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large
bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming
undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must
pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of
anguish.

FOURTH PLACE

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the
Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being
bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as
much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been
provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the
fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

THIRD PLACE

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because a jury ordered a
Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled
soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the
floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during
an argument.


SECOND PLACE

Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a
nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor,
knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to
sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover
charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000.... oh, yeah,
plus dental expenses.


FIRST PLACE

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv
Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot
Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game,
having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and
calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make
herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway,
crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued
Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually
leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma
jury awarded her - are you sitting down?

$1,750,000

PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a
result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who
might also buy a motor home.
If you think the US court system is out of control, pass this one on.

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