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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Facts and issues pertaining to the Leibeck lawsuit against McDonald's got distorted or omitted in much of the popular and press discussion of the case, and corporate and political interests stoked and exploited public outrage, as written about here. From the linked article: "You place the cup between your legs to steady it so you can add cream and sugar..." There's the problem right there. If you just drank the coffee like God intended there'd be no problem. But, no, you've got to pollute it with cream and sugar and stuff.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Right! You just place the third degree burning straight into your mouth.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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OP
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
I remember there were a number of issues at the time that were not discussed much in the popular press. For example, the fact that McD's coffee was much hotter than other coffee. It makes sense that there would be a warning to me. There are other cases where I think reasonableness has nothing to do with it - Lawn Jarts, for example, where a guy kills his young child, because he didn't realize that hurling a 3/4 lb spike through the air had the potential to be dangerous. This is silly.
I was in a pub with some Mensans (not a member, just hang out with the occasionally). Somehow the topic came up of bagels in NYC. 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. One of them suggested that if that were true it would be appropriate to put warning messages on all bagel containers. It didn't bother me that one person would say something stupid (I do it all the time), but it was a little disconcerting when the rest of them began shaking their heads in a vigorous up and down motion.
I'll set aside for now my central complaint that so many unnecessary warnings creates a dangerous amount of clutter making it more difficult to see the warnings you really do need. The important connection to this thread is that we completely different views about what is reasonable.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
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?
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 876
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 876 |
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... I was bothered by this at first - to whom should this doubt be reasonable? To me? Precisely! 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. 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.
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557
addict
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addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557 |
Under US Federal law you can waive your right to a jury trial, but the prosecutor and the court both have to agree to it before you can have a bench trial instead. State laws vary.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Under US Federal law you can waive your right to a jury trial, but the prosecutor and the court both have to agree to it before you can have a bench trial instead. State laws vary. if you waive the jury and the prosecutor doesn't agree do you still have to be tried? What a loophole. 
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