Morph: I read the article, and did learn I was wrong in thinking she was driving, but I still say that placing a flexible-sided container of a known very hot liquid between your legs can have an easily predictable result...


 Originally Posted By: TheFallibleFiend
I was bothered by this at first - to whom should this doubt be reasonable? To me?
Precisely!


 Originally Posted By: TheFallibleFiend
I had heard an article once (urban legend or fact I don't know) that at one point the most common reason for emergency room visits in NYC was cutting one's self while trying to split a bagel.
I bought myself a wooden bagel cutting frame because, when wielding a knife, I'm the only one who has to worry about getting cut! I once very stupidly was separating frozen hamburgers with a very sharp knife, from the opposite side to my hand, with the easily predictable result. I did not sue the knife manufacturer, nor the burger makers... Interestingly, I severed the nerve that supplies the underside of the finger above the cut. Within three months, it had grown back.


 Originally Posted By: Alex Williams
Can the accused request a trial by judges instead of a trial by jury if they want to? Or is that something reserved for specific situations?
I hope a lawyer or judge will weigh in on this one. I believe there are cases for which a jury trial is compulsory, and others for which it is optional. Certain actions on the part of the accused, such as accepting a plea bargain, would automatically be sent to a judge only.