Last Updated on February 13, 2022
You just can’t trust anyone these days.
Least of all, according to a recently filed lawsuit in which an inmate is suing the couple he held hostage as he hid from police.
The incident occurred in September of 2009, when a man who was running from police who wanted to question him in a beating death burst into a Kansas home. The couple’s neighbors say they fed the suspect snacks and watched television with him until he fell asleep when they took the opportunity to escape.
They filed a lawsuit against him seeking $75,000 for damages and emotional distress.
The suspect is now counter-suing for $235,000 for — get this — breach of contract. He says the couple agreed to hide him from whomever was chasing him, “most likely the police,” for an “unspecified amount of money.” He says when the couple agreed verbally, this constituted a legally binding oral contract.
I suspect a judge will take about three seconds to throw out his suit, citing a clear “duress” on the part of the couple. After all, a stranger had just broken into their home. That’s not exactly an ideal situation of trust in which any reasonable agreement could be entered.
This guy is serving an 11-year sentence on four felonies, including two counts of kidnapping.
If I were the judge in this lawsuit, I’d just double his prison sentence.
Just for wasting my time.
Don’t you wish that were an option?
Personally, I think that if you are guilty of committing a crime, you shouldn’t be able to recover financially from any damages incurred during the commission of the crime; in most of these cases, your “damages” are specifically the result of you doing something you shouldn’t have been doing, and indeed, didn’t have the right to be doing at the time, anyway.
Why can’t we have a law like that?
I can’t believe that. Talk about a frivolous law suit. How can someone who held a couple hostage have any rights to sue – and to sue the victims, no less! I strongly suspect the lawyer who put in the counter suit will be put on notice if not outright disbarred. Most judges do not smile upon frivolous lawsuits like that.