Jury Reaches Verdict In Tower Of Terror Case

[Disco]

Actually calling them "peers" is a major leap. I'm sure they were as hand selected as they could have possibly been by the plaintiffs.

"Jury of your peers" has absolutely no valid meaning these days.

And the defense hand selected them as much as possible to be unbiased. It's a two way street.
I don't know how you would want to be judged in a trial but I'd rather it be a group of regular people than a politician, judge (which are basically now politicians) or god forbid a corporation.

 

[Uncleromulus]

A two way street perhaps in a civil trial--which this was. Civil matters are certainly different than criminal.
But since we're on the subject of jurors, I must say that in my 40+ years in the Criminal Justice system, most times the defense tries to select the most gullible-looking jurors they can find. After all, they only need ONE such person to avoid a guilty verdict.
The government tries a bit to select intelligent jurors, but usually they don't struggle too hard. After all, 90+ % of them will be defense lawyers soon!!!

 

[KYMickey]

Again just chiming in on a pet peeve of mine that the whole American society seems to share. In regards to the Hot Coffee trial, unless you’re a juror at a trial you really don't know what the heck you’re talking about. It was in no way a frivolous lawsuit.

And I suppose you were?

The normal expectation is for coffee to be served hot and anyone ordering it should assume that. Any reasonable person knows how to handle hot coffee safely. In this case the person didn't and suffered because of it. If the coffee had not been hot they would have also complained! It was obviously not McDonald's fault. On top of that the ridiculous amount of $'s awarded was just absurd and didn't reflect the actions in the case.

 

[irishtigger]

I think this is the dumbest lawsuit I have ever heard of. I do believe its his family that is pushing this lawsuit and not him. However, I did recently read they are planning to appeal the jury's decision not to award any money and retrying the case. I hope they never see a dime. I hate stupidity.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

There is one thing that I have never understood about this case. Since this person had his stroke in 1998 how was he allowed to file this lawsuit only 4 years later in 2002 or did he have his lawyer contact Disney before it was officially filed and etc?

 

[FireDancer]

And I suppose you were?

The normal expectation is for coffee to be served hot and anyone ordering it should assume that. Any reasonable person knows how to handle hot coffee safely. In this case the person didn't and suffered because of it. If the coffee had not been hot they would have also complained! It was obviously not McDonald's fault. On top of that the ridiculous amount of $'s awarded was just absurd and didn't reflect the actions in the case.

Coffee at Starbucks is served too hot for me so I ask them to put a few ice cubes in it and I make sure my cup holders are all ready to accept the cup as soon as it is handed to me. The second the person decided to hold the coffee between their legs the case became ridiculous. Had the employee spilled the coffee on her of course the facts of the case would have been different.

There is one thing that I have never understood about this case. Since this person had his stroke in 1998 how was he allowed to file this lawsuit only 4 years later in 2002 or did he have his lawyer contact Disney before it was officially filed and etc?

I could see the case taking that long to make it through the system. Really the fact it didn't just get thrown out regardless of the time frame is ridiculous. Our system is clogged with these kinds of garbage cases and because Disney is such a big headline grabbing company with deep pockets they are subject to them. Look at the Segway lawsuit that is going on which is equally ridiculous and while it keeps getting dismissed it doesn't get dismissed in a way that precludes future litigation.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I could see the case taking that long to make it through the system. Really the fact it didn't just get thrown out regardless of the time frame is ridiculous. Our system is clogged with these kinds of garbage cases and because Disney is such a big headline grabbing company with deep pockets they are subject to them. Look at the Segway lawsuit that is going on which is equally ridiculous and while it keeps getting dismissed it doesn't get dismissed in a way that precludes future litigation.

Thank you for that information.