| Author | Message | ||
     Koz5150 |
Article from Milwaukee Paper jsonline.com By MARIE ROHDE mrohde@journalsentinel.com Posted: Sept. 17, 2008 Two people injured when their motorcycle struck plastic wrap stretched across a Town of Waukesha road cannot sue for damages, the state Court of Appeals has ruled. Daniel Buckel and Theresa Brzykcy filed the lawsuit against four teenagers involved in the dangerous prank, as well as their parents and their insurers, in November 2006. The case was dismissed on summary judgment after a judge agreed that the boys’ actions were intentional and thus not covered by insurance. State law requires that suits seeking damages for intentional acts be filed within two years; the crash occurred the evening of July 12, 2004, on Guthrie Road. When the motorcycle hit the clear plastic wrap, it slid across the pavement into a driveway. Buckel, of the Town of Waukesha, suffered a broken finger and a gash over his eye; Brzykcy, of Brookfield, was knocked unconscious briefly. The boys who had stretched the plastic across the road, then ages 14 and 16, fled but came forward about three weeks later. A judge ordered them to spend four days in detention and perform 60 hours of community service. The injured riders argued that the question of the boys’ intent and parental negligence should have been decided by a jury, but the appellate court panel in Waukesha disagreed and upheld a decision by Waukesha County Circuit Judge James R. Kieffer. Nice eh? | ||
| Brinnutz |
Take it higher. | ||
| Brettx1 |
Why did they wait so long to sue? I'd been all over that! Thank god no one was killed, those kids could be in juvenile detention instead of being sued. | ||
| Buelliedan |
So it is not that they can't sue it was that they waited to long to file. The state law sounds clear to me. they waited to long to file. This is common for many types of lawsuits. You are sensationalizing something that really isn't. | ||
| Miamiuly |
Oh well, it only ended up being an attempted murder, no reason to take it seriously. WTF | ||
| No_rice |
as i am reading it. it seems to me that they are in the state court of apeals. wouldnt that mean that they had been going to court for this for awhile and its just taking its usual sweet old time to get through the system? | ||
| Cityxslicker |
so if I had caught the kids,wrapped them in same clear saran wrap and left them secured to a lamp post... I am sure I would have been charged. | ||
| Bbbob |
Paragraph 2: suit filed in Nov '06, paragraph 3: accident in July '04. Dummies for waiting so long to file. | ||
| Koz5150 |
I am not sure but I think what happened is they went after the insurance company and lost. Now their only recourse would beto go after the individuals, but the window of opportunity is closed. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Then they should be suing their lawyer. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
They should consider using that plastic wrap to build the space shuttle. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Attempted murder? Those boys probably never thought of a bike, only a car. I doubt they wanted to hurt somebody, just get a laugh. I did many a thing when I was young that somebody could have got hurt and got lucky ussualy. Yes they should be punished and the parents sued (to late) but Murder? Just a bad bad prank. Thank god nobody got hurt to bad and Hope those boys learn there lesson and grow up to be good Men. I do think there parents should at least make them work summers to pay for the bikes, and maybe a good ol' fashioned ass whoopin'. Just my .02 | ||
| Jramsey |
I'd just be glad it wasn't "greenies". They use trout lines with treble hooks. | ||
| Miamiuly |
Attempted murder? Those boys probably never thought of a bike, only a car. I doubt they wanted to hurt somebody, just get a laugh. I did many a thing when I was young that somebody could have got hurt and got lucky ussualy. Yes they should be punished and the parents sued (to late) but Murder? Just a bad bad prank. Thank god nobody got hurt to bad and Hope those boys learn there lesson and grow up to be good Men. I do think there parents should at least make them work summers to pay for the bikes, and maybe a good ol' fashioned ass whoopin'. Just my .02 Would you feel that way if it was your loved one who rode into it? What would the law say if they had fired a gun into the air, "just messin' around, not intending to hurt anyone," and it killed some innocent bystander? Food for thought Maybe attempted manslaughter then. I've done some dumb things, been pretty lucky but there are consequences and they got real lucky not to kill or paralyze someone. Gee, let's drop cinder blocks from the tall building, just messing around, didn't mean to hurt anyone. I wonder how it would have gone if an on duty Motor Officer had ridden into the "prank."} (Message edited by miamiuly on September 18, 2008) | ||
| Miamiuly |
I'd have gone for something like attempted involuntary manslaughter, just like every a-hole that crosses into my space while talking on the cell phone or driving badly tried to kill me on my bike. The cases of manslaughter may be classed as follows those which take place in consequence of: 1. Provocation. 2. Mutual combat. 3. Resistance to public officers, etc. 4. Killing in the prosecution of an unlawful or wanton act.}}5. Killing in the prosecution of a lawful act, improperly performed, or performed without lawful authority. Basically I'm saying they got REAL lucky not killing someone, or not having a motorcycle cop ride into the trap. I bet they would have been hit with different charges in that case. It says in the article the judge decided it was an intentional act so the insurance didn't have to pay. after a judge agreed that the boys’ actions were intentional} (Message edited by miamiuly on September 18, 2008) | ||
| Miamiuly |
four days sounds rough... for doing someting that could have killed or mamed two people?? They are probably out killing kittens now. I hope they learned from the slap on the wrist. (Message edited by miamiuly on September 18, 2008) | ||
| Mr_gto |
The boys here in Tennessee who were out having some "redneck fun" when they dropped a rock from an over pass that demolished a womens head after it went through here windshield didnt mean to hurt anyone either. Doesnt make them any less accountable because they didnt mean to. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
so if I had caught the kids,wrapped them in same clear saran wrap and left them secured to a lamp post... I am sure I would have been charged. Of course YOU wouldn't be charged. You would have been smart enough to not to leave the kids secured to a lamp post. You would have left them at the bottom of a mud hole. | ||
| Irideabuell |
The reality is that this country has become far too soft on acts like this. It seems to boil down to intent legally as opposed to lack of good, old-fashioned common sense. Had this happened 40 years ago those kids would have been in a world of trouble. Intent works both ways. While they didn't plan for a motorcycle to go through the plastic the fact that they didn't consider it doesn't mean a damn thing. What is it that Ron White says? "You can't fix stupid" - at any age. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
Call it what you will, the did something wrong and should've had to pay a higher price. That's for sure. Miamiuly I'm not completly disagreeing with you, and after I read my comments and maybe It sounded like I would have let them off the hook, not the case. I still don't think I'd call it attempted murder as I think that implies intent. Could be wrong Deffinatly a f-ed up thing to do. | ||
| Jlnance |
Call it what you will, the did something wrong and should've had to pay a higher price. This isn't really about the kids though. It's about whether you can ignore something for two years and then sue someone about it. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
true. Wonder why they waited. I guess thats what you get from procastinating | ||
| Ryker77 |
I'd might agree with the judge. Homeowner insurace doesn't cover intential acts. They would need to bypass the insurance and sue the parents directly. Lawyers don't like that route because they (dirty lawyers) do not get a quick payout. Often all you get is wage garnishment and a lien on the home. | ||
| Buelliedan |
IMO thier insurance should not have to pay for this. Why should everybodys insurance go up because of their kids actions? They should have sued the children and parents immediately and made the kids pay for many many years once they start working through wage garnishment. The victims would not have received as much money up front and especialy the lawyers would not like it but this would have really taught them a lesson. | ||
| Slaughter |
Too bad they waited. I can't imagine not wanting to KILL somebody - certainly would want to get my pound of freaking flesh if that happened. Their bad that they didn't come out swinging the DAY that it happened. Also... I don't give a RIP about what the idiot kids intentions were. I was cleared off the back of my old dirtbike at El Mirage when I took a wire on the face shield of my helmet... I don't give a rat's ass whether the idiot who strung the wire was thinking about it being a harmless prank or not or whether he thought a car would be the next vehicle down the road or not. Once I got over the shock of being on my ass and feeling like I had broken my neck, I collected my thoughts, found the broken wires and called the County Sherriff and waited 3 hours til he got there to file the report. He took it as attempted murder. I put this in the same category as shooting a rifle into the air as a way of celebrating... yeah, sure I was celebrating the New Year - and I'm sorry the bullet fell on somebody's head but it shouldn't matter since I was only celebrating, right??? Come on now. (Message edited by slaughter on September 23, 2008) | ||
| Steve_mackay |
I don't know wtf they are talking about. I KNOW Dan, the victim of this 'prank'. He *DID* file the civil suit within 2 years. |
