OCR Text |
Show THE READER'S COURTROOM Falling Brick No Accident By Will Bernard, LL.B : If a Brick Drops On a Pedestrian, Can He Collect Damages? A workman was hired to fix the brickwork on the front of an old building. However, no "safety zone" was set aside on the sidewalk side-walk below. Sure enough, a brick slipped out of the workman's hand and landed on a passing pedes trian's toe! The pedestrian latei sued the owner of the building for A cottage was put up for auction, and a young couple decided to enter the bidding. However, every time they called out a price the man sitting next to them went a little higher. Finally the man stopped bidding, and the cottage was sold to the young couple. Later they found out that the other bidder was a stooge hired by the auctioneer to boost the price. Angrily they refused re-fused to go through with the deal. The auctioneer insisted that the cottage was "worth the price," but the court called the sale off. Is it "Theft" to Empty A Drunk's Pockets For His Own Good? An elderly man and a youthful friend entered a tavern one eve ning and began drinking heavily The whiskey didn't bother the older man at all, but his companion soon slumped down in his chair dead drunk. The man took the youth's wallet and started to leave, ex plaining to the bartender that he damages. The latter explained thai the injury was "entirely accidental," accident-al," but the court felt otherwise The judge said the owner should have had the common sense to foresee fore-see this kind of mishap- and to take precautions against it. ,May You Force the City To Extend a Water Line To Your Neighborhood? A man bought a house in a secluded se-cluded neighborhood just inside j the city limits. To his dismay, he J discovered that the city's water lines didn't run out that far. Promptly he sued the city, demanding demand-ing that the pipes be extended to ! his neighborhood. He said that he was entitled to the same service ' as everybody else no matter how much it would cost the city. However, How-ever, the court refused to interfere. The judge said that, in fairness to all concerned, such matters must be left up to the good judgment of he municipal authorities. wouia "keep it until my triena sobers up." But the man had no sooner walked out than the suspi cious bartender summoned a police man. The officer arrested the man for theft. At the trial, tie admitted taking the wallet without the youth's knowledge. However, in view of the circumstances, the court found him not guilty. The judge said that, far from committing commit-ting a crime, the man had really done the youth a favor by protecting protect-ing his money. |